Wars Are Won: Reunions
by KLCtheBookWorm
Summary: 3 in the Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare series. Limburger's latest attempt to kill the Biker Mice results in transporting the bros and Charley to the Olympian Fury. But this new hope for the future is dashed by a threat worse than the Plutarkians.
1. Chapter One: Hot Rod

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Biker Mice From Mars_ and I make no money off this work. The characters Hot Rod/Roddie, Clutch, Dr. Fender, Ruger, Vev, Cutlass, Axle, Sparks, Stella, Lance, Colonel Exhaust, Tala, MC, Bola, and Ivero belong to me, so please don't use them in your stories. But feel free to draw them and send me a copy. 

Lyrics to "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns 'n Roses, "High Enough" by Damn Yankees, and "Heaven Can Wait" by MeatLoaf are used without permission. 

This story contains cussing, graphic depictions of violence, drinking of alcoholic beverages, and sexual situations. If you're not mature enough to handle it, go read something else. 

This story takes place in 1995, one week after _Biker Mice From Mars: Put Me Back Together_. 

* * *

**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
  
Chapter One: Hot Rod**

Mice eased back from the floating silver sphere. The Captain frowned down at it and then at the salvaged transport booth it had just arrived through. "It reeks of stinkfish. Fry it," she ordered from the metal catwalk above. 

The two closest mice pulled out their laser guns. Two shots and the blackened and cracked sphere fell to the floor. 

The Captain marched down the metal stairs and strode over to the transport booth set up in the back corner of her bridge. "Well, the damned thing works this way at least." 

Her second-in-command, a six-foot-seven-inches-tall mouse with coppery-red fur, joined her. "The stinkfish can send whatever they want but we can't send anything anywhere." Clutch frowned thoughtfully. "It's dangerous to keep it here on the bridge." 

"I want it here." 

"But Captain . . .." 

She cut off his protest with a quick gesture of her hand. "If we put it anywhere else on the ship, Internal Security will demand to help guard it. The last thing we need to do is give Colonel Exhaust a way to secretly deport beings." 

Clutch sighed. "It's dangerous as long as we don't have control over it." 

"Because the stinkfish can send stuff here?" It was her turn to sigh. "Give the good Doctor time, Commander Clutch. He'll get it functional as soon as possible. And those stinkfish won't keep sending stuff here if we keep destroying it." She turned to two ensigns. "Take that probe down to Dr. Fender and tell him I want it taken apart and a report on it ready in two hours or less." The ensigns surged forward, grabbed the sphere, and hustled it into the elevator off the bridge. "It's probably the stinkfishes' way of checking on their ships, but let's make sure." She tossed her black hair over her shoulder and went back to the business of running her ship. 

* * *

On Earth, in the United States' city of Chicago, a scientist monitored his equipment. The thin, small humanoid with an unnaturally large head stood up and slapped the computer a couple of times. The reading didn't change. A large smile twisted his sharp facial features around the black-lens goggles strapped over his eyes. Karbunkle giggled evilly and jumped onto the express elevator to Limburger's office. 

His Plutarkian boss was sitting behind a desk going over his books. He was also cursing the existence of Martian mice--three in particular--in his native language. He looked up as the scientist popped up through the hole in the floor of the office. "My dear doctor, have you come up with some way of ridding Chicargo of those do-gooding pests?" 

"Perhaps, your malodorous maliciousness. I just sent a probe to a transport booth that was on board the ship that went missing last week. It was vaporized." 

"They'd just find a way to transport back." Limburger shuffled all his papers together with his white-gloved hands, then shoved the stack into a desk drawer. "They always find a way back!" He slammed the drawer shut. "Then what do those rampaging rodents do? They demonstrate to me in a most ingenious and unpleasant method just how displeased they are, which usually involves the destruction of my Tower." He mournfully reached into the ever-present bowl of slime worms sitting on his desk. "So what's the point of trying that plan again?" 

"If we sent the Biker Mice to the same location as the probe, they would be vaporized too." The evil scientist cooed to his employer. 

Limburger paused the handful of wriggling worms between the bowl and his mouth. "Did you say _vaporized_?" 

"Yes, your stagnant spitefulness." 

"And you have every reason to believe the same fate will befall those galling gerbils?" He asked very slowly as he concentrated on his lackey, completely oblivious to the escaping worms plopping onto his desk. 

"Yes, your rancid rottenness." 

"Then by all means, Dr. Karbunkle, let's hurry them on their way. To eternity." 

* * *

Charley climbed down the ladder from the trap door in her bedroom floor into the surprisingly quiet and empty garage proper of the Last Chance Garage. She glanced at her watch. It was late for the Biker Mice, which meant they were off beating up Limburger's wrenchheads. She sighed as she opened the garage doors. "No good complaining about getting left out of the hero stuff. Besides, their macho egos can't handle the competition." 

She turned to her waist-high tool chest. She estimated that she probably had enough time to start the tune-up on her bike before they got back and laughed aloud as she unlocked and lifted the tool chest's lid. "Maybe if I'm covered in grease, they'll fix their own hot dogs for once." Suddenly two muscle-bound and grease-covered arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her up. "This isn't what I meant!" 

Greasepit, Limburger's head goon, held her tightly. "De Boss wants to see youse." 

"And I don't get a choice?" Charley grimaced and started kicking. The tool chest fell with a resounding crash. The wrenches inside clattered across the concrete floor. Greasepit swung her around and more objects in the garage hit the floor. Finally, another goon managed to catch her feet and hold them. 

"Nose, youse don't." Greasepit laughed as he and the goon carried her out of the garage. 

* * *

Vinnie pulled his bike to a stop and turned off the blue-tinted face shield on his helmet, laughing. "Look at those wrenchheads run!" 

Two more Martian mice on motorcycles pulled up beside him. "I don't like it," Throttle frowned. 

"What's not to like?" The smaller white mouse astride a red racing bike gestured at the men fleeing the demolition site. "We whipped some tail!" 

"And we stopped the Big Cheese from grabbing more land from Chi-town." The larger grey mouse twisted around on his bike to look at his tan-furred bro. "So what's botherin ya?" 

"Something about this reeks, bros." Throttle frowned harder. _And I just can't pin my tail on it._

"Sure it reeks," Vinnie assured him. "Limburger's a Plutarkian. In case you hadn't noticed." 

"But he doesn't smell as bad as your jokes." Modo scratched under his grey jaw. "Ya know, we didn't see Greasepit's oily mug here." 

"That's it, Modo! Limburger always sends Greasepit out to do his dirty work. Why wasn't he here?" 

Vinnie shrugged off the observation. "Maybe ole Fish-lips got tired of watchin us whip Lard-butt's tail." 

"I don't know," Modo grinned. "I always found it pretty entertaining." 

"Bros, you're readin too much into this." The white mouse complained, gesturing with his white-furred hands. "So what if Greasepit wasn't here. Let's go back to the garage, grab a couple of dogs and root beers, and tell Charley how I whipped some tail!" He kicked his bike into gear and roared up the street from the demolition site. 

"Didn't we help?" Modo frowned as he revved his bike. 

Modo and Throttle followed their younger bro's lead, the latter deep in thought. _I hate to admit it, but Vinnie's probably right. If only I could shake the feeling that this was a set-up job. Maybe I'm just gettin paranoid._

* * *

"For once you did a job right, my dear boy." Limburger sneered down at the captive red-haired woman struggling to free herself from the chair they had tied her to. "Do try to make a habit of it." 

"Duh. Make a habit out of what, Boss?" Greasepit pulled off his red cap and scratched his bald head. Large globs of oil fell to the bare floor of Karbunkle's lab. 

Limburger slapped a hand to his forehead and pulled it down his face. His human mask shifted down under the hand, but it jerked back into place once he let go of his face. 

"Do you really think you're going to get away with kidnapping me, Fishface?" Charley snapped. "Once the Biker Mice find out, they'll blow your stinking hide back to Plutark!" 

"My dear Miss Davidson, I'm afraid you don't understand. I want those rampaging rodents to discover that I have you in my clutches. For you are the proverbial bait," he leered, "for my mousetrap!" 

* * *

"Charley? Charley-girl, we're back!" Vinnie pulled off his helmet inside the empty Last Chance Garage. "Where are you, sweetheart? I hope she isn't mad we didn't take her." He jumped off his bike and ran through the swinging door on the back wall that led to the kitchen. "Charley?" 

Throttle pulled off his helmet as Modo poked his confused head into the garage's office. The tow truck was still parked on the right side of the garage. "Look at this mess." The tan mouse said, staring around. Someone had knocked over a large metal tool chest mounted on wheels, the table they ate at, Charley's bike, and a stack of tires. "This ain't like Charley." He managed to get out through the sudden tightness in his throat. 

"She don't leave puddles of oil all over the floor like this either." Modo dipped a metal finger into the puddle he knelt down beside. 

Vinnie climbed down the ladder from Charley's bedroom into the garage. "Charley ain't upstairs." 

"She ain't down here either." Throttle righted the tall tool chest. 

"Did she say she was going somewhere today and we forgot?" Modo picked up her bike and set it back on its wheels and kickstand. 

"Don't think so." The white mouse quickly shook his head. "Sides both her rides are here and there's no way she'd leave the garage like this. She's made us clean it up too many times to forget that." 

Throttle stared down at the tool chest. The top part had a hinged lid and space above a set of drawers. The set of wrenches kept under the lid had scattered to either side where the chest had fallen. But someone had unlocked the chest, not broken into it. _If someone was just interested in mindless destruction, why bother unlocking a tool chest?_ "I think Charley's been nabbed." 

"But who would take Charley?" 

"Who do you think, Vincent?" 

The three mice stared at the oil on Modo's metal index finger. "Greasepit!" they yelled together. 

* * *

Greasepit ran/slid into Dr. Karbunkle's lab. "Da Biker Mices is comin! Da Biker Mices is comin!" 

"Excellent," Limburger freed the gagged human woman from the chair. He checked that her hands were bound behind her back, pressed a laser pistol against her temple, and stood with her beside the transport booth. "Activate the machine, Doctor." 

Karbunkle wrapped both hands around a lever and yanked it down. The booth's door slid open, spilling bright blue light into the lab. "Prepared and primed, your pungent piscineness." 

The wall blew open and the Biker Mice rode into the room past the smoke and rubble. "I'm only saying it once, Limburger," Throttle growled. "Let her go." 

"Certainly, my esteemed enemies." Limburger grinned and half-bowed with flourish. "But may I propose a little game?" He pulled the gun from Charley's head and waved it at the transport booth. "Of fetch!" He twisted and tossed a struggling Charley into the bright blue energy the machine contained. 

"Charley!" Throttle gunned his bike and followed her through the lighted portal. Modo and Vinnie hesitated for a second, then followed after them. 

Karbunkle shut the doors of the transport booth once the grey tip of a tail vanished. Limburger laughed. "I hope they enjoy oblivion." 

"Dey not comin back?" Greasepit asked. 

"They're not coming back," Karbunkle cackled. 

Limburger wiped a tear of joy from his eye and turned to Greasepit. "Start digging up Chicargo. Plutark needs it." 

* * *

Charley felt a tail wrap around her waist, stopping her forward flight across a large metal room. Bodies scattered out of the way as Throttle's bike skidded to a stop. 

His muscular arms pulled her in front of him. "Are you okay?" His fingers brushed against her cheeks as he gently untied the gag. 

We haven't been this close together since last week. Her skin tingled and her heart beat harder. Vinnie and Modo landed their bikes beside them. _Down girl! Just friends, remember?_ "I'm all right," she answered as soon as her mouth was freed. Then the shooting interrupted her. Throttle threw himself to the other side of his bike, pulling Charley with him. He pressed her tight against his chest. "But I'd be even better if they weren't aiming at us!" 

Vinnie and Modo ducked beside them and behind their rides. "I can stop 'em real quick, sweetheart." Vinnie grinned and pulled out his gun. 

"No." Throttle's tail grabbed Vinnie's arm; his hands busy untying Charley. "Those guys are mice!" 

"Can't they see we're mice too!" Modo ducked as a laser bolt whizzed over his helmeted head. 

"Cease firing!" A female voice screamed with authority. The snipers listened and an eerie silence fell over the room. "I step off the bridge for five minutes and all hell breaks loose! Who fired first?" 

"Captain, you said to shoot the next thing sent through the transporter." 

"The next Plutarkian thing, Ruger! If those bikes are Plutarkian, I'll eat them!" 

"I know that voice," Throttle murmured. He stood up and pulled off his helmet. His bros followed his lead and Charley stood up behind him. "Roddie?" 

A black-furred female mouse with ebony waist-length hair stood on a catwalk in front of them. She almost blended into the endless night framed by the large expanse of windows behind her. She looked down at their group and gasped, "Throttle?" She ran down the metal stairs leading from the catwalk to the floor. "Throttle!" He had moved around his bike by the time she reached him. She embraced him tightly around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the floor. "I knew those stinkfish couldn't kill you guys! I knew it!" 

"We should have known the same about you." Throttle's husky voice was thicker than normal. 

Charley felt a sharp pang in her gut. Throttle held the strange mouse tight enough to crush ribs. Her face was buried against his neck. And they both seemed to have forgotten anyone else was present. 

A laugh erupted from the black mouse. Throttle set her back on her feet and she enveloped Vinnie. "Vinnie! You finally lost the training wheels." She laughed at his dark expression and embraced Modo. "Good gods, Modo. You got bigger!" 

"So did you, Roddie." The grey mouse swung her off her feet and put her back down with a huge grin spread across his face. 

"Welcome to the _Olympian Fury_." A male mouse almost as tall as Modo with coppery-red fur said as he leaned against the railing of the metal catwalk. 

"The _Fury_?" Vinnie's mouth fell open. "But it was destroyed." 

"Stories of our destruction were greatly exaggerated," Roddie quipped. She grabbed hold of Throttle's hand. "Come on, I'll tell you guys all about it. Clutch, you have the bridge. And no one touches their bikes." The male mouse with coppery-red fur saluted and turned back to something that looked like steering controls mounted in the center of the catwalk to Charley. 

She's short. Charley was surprised by how spiteful the thought sounded, even if it was true. This girl mouse Throttle was so happy to see was only as tall as Charley's shoulder--not counting the antennae and ears. 

I wonder if they would be that happy to see me if I dressed to work like that. Roddie's gold shirt was completely unfastened, exposing a triangle of black fur between her breasts until the shirt ends were tied tightly at the waist. Form-fitting black pants accented at the outer seams with a fiery red and gold design wrapped around her trim legs. The red and gold shimmered as Roddie led them up the stairs. _I bet she doesn't have any trouble getting men to follow her orders. Probably only too happy to please the Captain._

Roddie's knee-high black boots clumped onto the metal catwalk and right up to a door in the wall at the left end. It opened into a small office furnished with a steely-grey metal desk and a red couch. A portable radio on the desk was playing softly. 

Vinnie and Modo grabbed seats on the couch as Roddie dragged Throttle to the center of the room. "Eight friggen years. This ought to be good." Her red antennae were glowing. So were Throttle's. He bent his head so he and the shorter female touched each other's skulls with the red appendages. 

They were sharing memories. Charley remembered the times Throttle had touched her forehead with his antennae when explaining what happened in the past would take too much time. Then there was last week when he accidentally showed her his own interpretation of the past: his pain, his guilt, and his loneliness. She had been the one who helped him, not this two-bit tramp that Throttle recollected from his childhood. 

She blushed thinking of just how she had helped him and turned to the nearest wall before anyone could notice. _He wouldn't tell her about that! He wouldn't even tell Modo and Vinnie. He wouldn't tell her--not if he expects to pick up wherever he and the sexy Captain left off._ The wall she stared at had four eight-by-ten photographs mounted in etched metal frames hanging on it. Vinnie and Modo remained silent and she could hear a familiar song playing.  
  
**_She's got a smile that it seems to me  
Reminds me of childhood memories.  
Where everything was as fresh  
As the bright blue sky  
  
Now and then when I see her face,  
She takes me away to that special place.  
And if I stared too long,  
I'd probably break down and cry._**  
  
One of the pictures was a studio portrait of Roddie and a sorrel-furred male mouse with his arm draped over her shoulders. _Throttle must be one of many._ Thinking like that wasn't helping to ease the sharp pang in her gut, Charley realized. _I'm jealous. I have no right to be jealous--we're **just** friends. And Throttle's happy. He's found someone he cares about who he thought was lost forever. I should be happy for him. I shouldn't feel like I'm losing him. He won't leave Chicago until Limburger is finally dealt with. Who am I kidding? I know how loyal he is._  
  
**_Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet child o' mine  
Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet love o' mine  
  
She's got eyes of the bluest skies,  
As if they thought of rain.  
I hate to look into those eyes  
And see an ounce of pain._**  
  
The other studio portrait had four mice, child versions of Throttle and Roddie--Charley realized with a start--and an adult couple. Throttle looked about ten-years-old with his hair carefully gelled out of his eyes. Roddie looked about six-years-old with a black braid draped over each shoulder. _His sister?_ Charley had never felt so worthless before. The woman mouse in the picture had Roddie's coloration, but the older male had more dun-colored fur than honey-tan like Throttle's. _He never said he had a sister. But he wouldn't, not if he thought she was dead._  
  
**_Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place  
Where as a child I'd hide  
And pray for the thunder and the rain  
To quietly pass me by  
  
Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet child o' mine  
Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet love o' mine_**  
  
The other two pictures were snapshots enlarged to the eight-by-ten size. One was the adult Roddie with a grey-furred boy mouse that looked like a pint-sized version of Modo with thick grey hair falling into his red eyes. They sat in a swing and grinned at the camera. Roddie had the swing pushed back as far as her legs would let it go. The boy had his tail wrapped around her waist and arms around her neck, turning his head so his expression was completely visible to the camera.  
  
**_Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet child o' mine  
Whoo-a-a-oh  
Sweet love o' mine_**  
  
The other picture was a group shot of a gang of teenagers. Charley recognized the younger and leaner versions of Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo. Modo had his left arm draped around the shoulders of a dark-grey-furred female mouse with shoulder-length grey hair. Their tails were also twined together. Vinnie was sticking Vs made of his fingers behind his bros' heads. Roddie was draped in Throttle's arms like he was carrying her over the threshold, and was sticking her red tongue out at the camera. Throttle had a pair of shades perched on his snout, but they were pushed down so he could gaze over them. It was so fun and innocent; something they never shared with her about Mars. _But what if they did? Would it stop you from feeling jealous? Face it, you'd see green even if Throttle was hugging Bola. It's stupid and pointless and I feel bad enough about it, all right!_

"Oh Throttle." Roddie's voice was thick, holding back tears. Charley turned around. They had broken their connection and now the black mouse had her arms around Throttle's neck again. 

"You're not gonna spoil the reunion by doing something girly like cryin, are ya?" He asked lightly. 

She pulled back and punched him in the stomach. "All right, you macho mouse. Just keep it up." 

"If you two are finished with your Martian mind tricks, ya could try tellin us some stuff." Vinnie folded his arms across his chest. 

"What do you wanna know, Vin-man?" Roddie jumped up on the edge of her desk. 

_They forgot about me again. What do I do, blend in with the background?_ Charley cleared her throat. Throttle smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry. Charley, this is my cousin Hot Rod. We haven't seen each other for eight years. Actually, we thought she was dead." 

"Call me Roddie or call me Captain. _Hot_ is an adjective." She grinned, flashing white teeth. 

"An apt one with that shirt." Vinnie growled appreciatively, unabashedly staring at her cleavage. "If I had known you were gonna grow up this good, I wouldn't have been so mean." 

Throttle dropped his field specs down his snout and glared at the white mouse. "She's married." 

Modo's jaw dropped. "Married? You're too young to be married!" 

"I'm over my majority. But then you probably think I'm too young to be Captain, too." 

"Pleased to meet you," Charley said in the brief silence as the males processed this information. Roddie winked at her with a smile. Her eyes were different from other mice Charley had met. The pupil was round and black and the sclera was a bright blue with no iris. 

"Come on, spill!" Vinnie tried not to bounce. "The stinkfish said they destroyed the _Fury_." 

"They hit us hard. And then they started boarding. That was a mistake." Her black tail lashed at the memory. "The last thing you wanna do is give guns to a bunch of pissed-off, space-dog miners. We beat them back." 

"We?" Modo grinned. "They let you help?" 

"Help? I was the first one to get a gun. First one to kill a stinkfish too. And Mom wanted your tails for teaching me how to shoot." 

"Aunt Vev never could appreciate how target practice would keep you outta our fur." Throttle leaned against the desk with a chuckle. 

"Gods forbid that you macho mice get labeled as baby-sitters. But it was a damned good thing I did learn. Only a handful of civies knew how to hold a gun, much less hit what they aimed at. We beat the stinkfish back and got away to hide and clean our wounds. That took a while. The Captain made me his second-in-command. His old one died in the fight." 

"You were thirteen!" Vinnie protested. 

"Unlike you, Bonehead, he could see potential. By the time we realized the Plutarkians had written the _Fury_ off as destroyed, we couldn't contact Mars. The news must've hit Mom hard." She turned to Throttle, her expression suddenly pensive. 

The amusement vanished from Throttle's face so quick it was like it had never been there. "She never heard it. It wreaked Uncle Cutlass though. He kept saying he should've let you be a Freedom Fighter." 

"Fate's in the driver's seat. We're just along for the friggen ride. We've been hitting the Plutarkians ever since we could, freeing prisoners and slaves, and hiding in the asteroid field. We did hear that you guys got captured and then the ship crashed, killing everybody on board, five years ago about. I guess we ought to find a more reliable source of information than Plutarkian propaganda." 

"It wasn't completely inaccurate," Modo pointed out. "All the stinkfish died." 

"Yeah, it was just wishful thinkin that we bought it, too," Throttle said. 

"We never heard any different so we assumed it was true. But then we don't get much news from Earth out here," Roddie replied with a shrug. 

"We try to keep a low profile. Other than destroying Limburger's Tower once a week." Roddie doubled over with laughter. Throttle looked annoyed. "Aw Roddie, you've seen their movies. Even good aliens are hunted and sent to the lab." 

"Been there, done the scientific experiment already." Modo clenched his metal fist. 

"Even Charley tried to crack open Throttle's head when we first met her." 

Charley glared at the white mouse. "Are you guys ever gonna let me live that down? I was having a very bad day." 

"And I'm sure having these macho mice bust in to rescue you really improved it." The black mouse straightened but her face still wore an amused expression. "I just can't see you guys keeping a low profile anywhere!" 

"They do try actually," Charley jumped in defense of Throttle's suffering countenance. The usual technique of starting a biker brawl when you couldn't come up with a reply to the teasing probably wouldn't work. There wasn't enough room in the office. Besides, they all had duties back on Earth. "When they're not fighting Limburger, they stay at their pad or my garage. Both of which are in serious danger from Fishface." 

"Yeah, he's probably havin a field day in Chi-town. You're gonna have to send us back, cuz." 

"I can't." 

"Now, Roddie. We know you've missed us but Chi-town's countin on us." 

"No, Modo, I meant I can't send you back any more than I can grow another tail. That transport booth only works one way--to here." Roddie snapped her fingers. "Limburger must have been the one who sent that probe earlier." 

"Probe?" Charley asked. 

"Yeah, we recognized it as Plutarkian and vaporized it." 

"No wonder he sent us here. He expected us to get vaporized too." Throttle sighed. 

"It almost happened anyway," Roddie said. 

"Hey, you're the Captain," Vinnie said brightly. "Can't you just fly by Earth and drop us off?" 

"If this was my personal ship, I would in a heartbeat. But with all the Plutarkian ships in that area, I can't risk the lives of the civies, not even for you guys. There are some supply runners scheduled to come in at the end of the week. Maybe one of them can give you a lift back." 

"A week? Do you realize how much damage Limburger can do in a week?" 

"Yes, I do, Bonehead! But it's the best I can do!" 

"We know that." Throttle wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Limburger'll pay for anything he does." 

"It's not too bad here. You can come to my party." Roddie smiled, flashing her white teeth again. 

"Party?" Modo's ears perked up. 

"Yes, the Captain's Ball. A formal and dignified affair, which means you have to dress up, be on your best behavior, and no blowing things up." 

"Dress up?" Throttle groaned. 

"Best behavior?" Modo moaned. 

"No blowin things up?" Vinnie cried. 

"What kind of party is that?" They demanded in unison. 

Roddie planted her hands on her hips. "I haven't see you guys for eight years. The least you can do is put on a suit and come to my party!" 

"Honestly, you're too much." Charley matched Roddie's exasperated tone. _I always do what they want to do and the only time I get to pick the event is on my birthday! They're not getting out of this, not if we're stuck here!_ "Just pretend your James Bomb for the evening." 

Throttle glanced at one annoyed female to the other, then turned to his bros. "I feel outnumbered." 

"Mama always said 'it's better to do what the lady wants than to make her mad.'" 

"All right, Roddie. You win." Vinnie buried his face in his fingerless-black-gloved hands and groaned when his tan-furred bro said that. 

She grinned. "Great. So I have to get you guys rooms, clothes." A knock on the door interrupted her. "Enter." 

A female mouse as tall as Throttle entered. Her fur was a dark cream color that lightened to snow-white the closer it got to her hair. Those snow-white curls were pulled back into a ponytail that brushed against her shoulders. She was dressed in a drab, olive-green, one-piece jumpsuit and had a gun strapped to her left leg. "Pardon, My Captain." Her speech was odd, a noticeable pause between each word. 

"It's all right. This is my cousin Throttle, his bros Vinnie and Modo, and their friend Charley. Guys, this is my aide Axle." 

"A pleasure." The cream-furred mouse bowed her head once. 

"What's wrong?" 

"There was an incident at the school. The principal, he demands to speak with you."

Roddie's hand came up to her face and started massaging the spot between her solid blue eyes. "By the interstellar void, what happened this time?" 

Axle spread her hands in a helpless gesture but her face remained impassive. "I was not told, My Captain. But the impression I received was that another fight had taken place."

I know I don't know a lot about military protocol, but what business does the Captain of the ship have over a school? Charley frowned slightly with confusion but kept silent. 

"Okay, I'll go deal with it," Roddie answered with a sigh. "You see about getting these guys some rooms and clothes. They're coming to the party tonight." 

"Of course, My Captain. This way please." Modo and Vinnie left the office right behind Axle. Charley followed them but turned back at the door. 

Throttle paused as the others filed out of Roddie's office. "Is everything okay?" 

"It never ends for the gal in charge, big bro-cuz. We'll catch up more later." 

"All right." He seemed surprised to see Charley waiting in the doorway. He smiled and gallantly gestured for her to step out first. The others were waiting on the catwalk. Axle's gaze followed the large coppery-red male's back as Clutch moved from one computer terminal to the next on the floor below. She jerked it away guiltily even though there was no matching facial expression. She led them down to a large elevator in the back of the metal room in the adjacent corner from the malfunctioning transport booth. They gathered their bikes and the elevator took them down. 

"So how come the Captain of the whole ship is getting bugged with school problems?" Charley asked conversationally. "Isn't she a little busy?" 

"When the problem involves My Captain's child, it is necessary for her to become involved." Axle worked the elevator car's controls and it smoothly descended. 

"Roddie's got a kid?" Modo's red eye opened wide. 

"Adopted or somethin," Throttle answered. "She didn't tell me much about him." 

"There are multiple room suites available. How many rooms will you require?"

The tan-furred mouse glanced over at Charley. "Uh, two I guess; one for Charley and one for us. We're used to bunkin together." 

"Makes it harder to sneak up on us," Modo explained. 

Axle nodded once. "Clothing for the party. Is there anything else you require?"

"Yeah, for the duds not to make us look like dorks." Vinnie uttered darkly. "I still can't believe we got roped into a formal and dignified affair." 

Axle smiled but it didn't quite reach her red eyes. "You should know My Captain well enough not to trust that description of any party she is giving."

Charley noticed that one wall of the elevator car was made of a transparent metal--Plutarkian glass steel. She started to ask why when the elevator shaft opened. "Oh my god," she gasped as the elevator car seemed to descend unsupported from the ceiling of the huge metal room. 

Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie crowded to her side to see. The twelve-story tall hold contained mostly ten-story tall stone and metal buildings arranged on a grid of streets. It looked like the thick metal walls contained roughly forty city blocks. A long green park complete with trees, sidewalks, and a playground stretched out below the elevator. Mice were everywhere conducting their business like they would in any other city. 

"Welcome to Olympian City," Axle said quietly. 

Modo swallowed hard. "All the refugees?" 

"Yes, and other slaves and prisoners of war we have rescued."

"How many?" Throttle tore his face away to look at the young mouse. 

"Roughly fifty thousand civilians. Plus six thousand troops and crew."

"There's barely seventy thousand mice on Mars," Vinnie said awed as he watched the city grow larger and closer. 

"We are not extinct yet." Axle declared. 

Charley's heart ached. _They never talk about how few of them are left. More than that live in Chicago. Fifty-six thousand would fit on a street. And for them it means their species may survive._

The elevator came to a stop inside a pavilion in the park. Axle led the way down the street and into one of the buildings. The Biker Mice sent their bikes to the parking garage next door and followed her inside. The manager quickly escorted them to a fifth-floor suite that reminded Charley of a set of nice hotel rooms. The main room was divided by placement of furniture into a sitting room and a dining room. Each bedroom had an adjacent bathroom. The only thing that seemed off was the rough stone walls. The manager left them information on room service, restaurants, and special events taking place, and then made himself scarce. Axle disappeared to find clothes for the party. 

Throttle collapsed on the couch and laughed. Laughed hard. Vinnie and Modo glanced nervously at Charley. "He's snapped," Vinnie concluded. 

"Nah," Throttle straightened his back and quieted to chuckles. "I just pictured Limburger's face once he realizes we didn't get vaped and he sent us to the _Fury_. Though tellin him about the _Fury_ is probably not that smart." 

"Provided we get back to Chicago to prove him wrong." 

"We'll get back, Charley." Throttle promised, looking up at her solemnly. 

"Yeah, and even if the worst happens we got that money Tala gave us," Vinnie added. "We can help ya rebuild." 

"Right after we pound the Big Cheese into next year," Modo declared. 

"Thanks, guys." 

Axle arrived at that moment, bringing garments and tailors. 


	2. Chapter Two: Sparks

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Two: Sparks**

Sparks cocked his grey ear toward the door of the principal's office. The secretary seated at the desk on the other side of the room frowned at him. The eight-year-old resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her. _I'm in enough trouble already. Oh boy, am I in trouble. Roddie's gonna tear my tail out._

The older mouse's strident tones reverberated through the thin metal. "I can appreciate your position, Captain. But I don't think you can appreciate mine. That child is an out-of-control hellion, a danger to himself and the other students, and in need of rigorous discipline! And if you and your husband are unable to provide that discipline, maybe you should give his custody to parents who can!" The principal finished with a boom. 

Sparks gulped as his stomach clenched. _No, no, no! I lost Momma; I'm not losin Roddie too!_

Roddie matched the principal's volume, but she used her low I'm-not-gonna-show-you-how-angry-I-am tone. "I've been maintaining discipline on board this ship since I was thirteen years old. And no one else on board has any problems with that out-of-control hellion. So maybe the problem isn't with him!" Roddie yanked the door open, looked down at Sparks with smoldering eyes, and slammed the inner office door closed. "We're leaving." 

The mouse child scampered out of the school's office in front of his guardian. He had never seen her so mad before. But then no one had called her an unfit parent before, either. They boarded a transport outside the school building. Sparks gulped again. The wheeled vehicle started taking them up Cydonia Street. Roddie stared out the back window and drummed her fingers on the armrest. Sparks pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. _Cheese, she's mad. I promised I wouldn't fight no more. I didn't wanna hit that guy. But I did it for her._ He squirmed in his seat, thinking about possible punishments. Roddie could be awfully creative with punishments. 

The transport stopped in front of their apartment building near the elevator up to the bridge. The black mouse didn't say anything as they made their way into the two-bedroom apartment. Sparks swallowed hard and pushed his grey hair out of his red eyes. She finally sighed and looked down at him. "Well congratulations. Not only are you the firstborn of the _Fury_, you're also youngest expulsion we've had since we started the school." 

_That's not fair! It's not like she finished school. And she's doing just fine without it._ "I wasn't learnin anything. I get more done studyin at home." 

"There's more to school than just book-learning. It also teaches you how to get along with other people. Something you evidently need more practice at." 

Sparks stared at the floor. _I don't wanna learn how to get along with people who hate other people just cause they're different,_ he thought sullenly. 

"You promised me you weren't going to start any more fights." 

"I'm sorry. But he called you bad names!" His voice raised with indignation. 

"And so you punched him?" 

"I warned him first. He wouldn't stop. So then I punched him." 

"And broke your promise to me." Roddie repeated quietly. 

He hung his head again, letting his long grey bangs hide his eyes. "I'm sorry." His voice was small. You never break a promise. He knew that. It was something Momma and Roddie agreed was important. If you broke a promise, you were no better than a Plutarkian. He had never broken a promise to Roddie before. He hadn't meant to break his promise. He felt bad about it, real bad. But nobody was gonna say bad stuff about Roddie while he was around to stop 'em. 

She sighed. "And I'm sorry that I have to punish you. But being sorry doesn't change anything. No party tonight." 

He jerked his head up. Fearful eyes opened wide. "But Roddie! Colonel Exhaust will be there!" He kept his clenched fists at his sides. _You need me there!_ He added silently. 

"And so will I and so will Lance. And if that doesn't scare him off, my cousin and his bros will." 

"Your cousin?" He remembered the stories Roddie had told him about the gang she hung with on Mars with Momma. Her cousin had been their leader. "I thought you said they died." 

"I thought they had. But the Plutarkians lied about it. And you're changing the subject. No party. And since you don't have to attend school, you have to help run the ship. You're assigned to Maintenance starting tomorrow." 

"Maintenance!" he yelped. "But Maintenance is borin. Can't you assign me to Engineerin or the Bridge?" 

"This is punishment, Sparks. You're not supposed to like it! And Maintenance happens to be understaffed right now. It'll take me some time to find you a tutor, so I expect you to pull at least a part-time shift. We'll see what happens after you start home studies." 

"Yes, ma'am." He said with resignation. When she had that tone of voice, it was no good arguing. 

Roddie sighed. "I have to get back to work. Can you keep yourself out of trouble until my shift ends?" 

"I'll behave." 

"Good." 

Sparks sighed with relief after she left. Maintenance duty wasn't that bad. And she hadn't taken the computer or the TV away. And no more school! He danced badly but with much enthusiasm over the last. No more dealing with those brain-dead morons who were jealous of his intelligence and that the Captain of the _Fury_ was his guardian. No more dealing with those rockheaded xenophobes who violently interpreted Exhaust's propaganda. 

He stopped dancing. Roddie was still in danger. Lance would give up his own life to keep her safe, but his work took him off ship. Exhaust wasn't stupid; he would be sure to attack while she had the least number of allies. _Which means I have to be prepared. No one expects the kid to do anything._

He ran a hand through his thick grey hair as he went to his bedroom. He knelt down beside his bed and pulled out a locked box. The key came out from under his T-shirt where it usually hung by a chain around his neck and stayed hidden. He opened the box and looked down inside it. The purple laser pistol and gun belt were still there and were still in working condition. He carefully locked the gun away and hid the box again. It might be needed tonight. 

The young grey mouse sat on the edge of his bed and scratched his jaw. _This cousin and other old friends of Roddie's. Will they be able to help? They probably don't know what's going on; Roddie never likes talkin about it. But would they be on our side? Better ask Momma._

Sparks jumped off the bed and opened the trunk next to his desk. He shifted though his dead mother's belongings; the ones Roddie had decided were too personal to recycle a few books, a few toys from his infancy, and her journals. She wrote an entry on just about every day of her life. And when he found he had a question about something, reading a few entries helped him make a decision. He pulled out the notebook that had been started on Mars and ended on board the _Fury_. He let the pages fall open to a random entry. 

    I know I swore I would never make the same mistake my mother did: to fall in love with a biker and be left behind when love becomes inconvenient. But biking's in my blood and I can't help it. But this biker is different. You just have to watch him with his niece and nephew to know that. I have fallen for him and I don't even know his name!   
  

    He hangs out with Throttle, Roddie, and a younger white mouse--a self-contained group that doesn't let anyone else in. But Roddie owes me for all those times I baby-sat her and let her watch the movies her parents wouldn't.   
  

    Success! Roddie's going to introduce us. She doesn't understand why but she's willing to do anything that could be potentially funny. Her exact words.  


The handwritten page blurred. Sparks lifted his head and angrily blinked away the tears. "Momma." He remembered her gentle touch that caressed away his hurts. He hadn't read this journal before. Momma never told him about his father. But then he hadn't cared when he was three-years-old. Roddie was the one who told him his father was dead. 

This entry was written in his mother's happy handwriting, complete with doodled hearts in the margins. Sparks really didn't want to know what happened next. He already knew how it ended. He skipped ahead a few months, pausing to read the entry on how the whole group of them--including Roddie and his mother--sneaked into Evil Eye Weevil's Stunt Show and didn't get busted. _If they were that good almost nine years ago, how good are they now? Roddie said they joined the Freedom Fighters._ He turned to another entry months away. 

    I gave him a choice--me or the biking. And I'm not surprised he chose biking. It's his first love, and neither me nor anyone else is going to separate him from Li'l Hoss. I just wished I had the guts to tell him that the reason I wanted him to slow down is because I want our baby to know its father.   
  

    There. I admitted it. Our baby. I'm having his baby and he doesn't love me anymore. That's not true, but it might as well be. I can't go back to him and he won't come back to me. And I can't face it alone.   
  

    Roddie came today. The others are joining the Freedom Fighters and she had planned to go too. Evidently, Throttle tattled about her plans. Her mother put her foot down, and her father got her a place on the _Olympian Fury_, the refugee ship the government is sending off. I've never seen her so upset, though I'm not sure who she's more furious with: her parents or Throttle for agreeing with them.   
  

    Once she calmed down, she explained her idea. She wants me to go on the _Fury_ with her. Her reasoning is a little obscure--"absence makes the heart grow fonder"? I still don't know where she got that. She says she can get away with it and I believe her. If she has half of Throttle's skill at planning and pulling off the impossible, she could do it. I think I will go with her. Mars is no place to raise a child right now.   
  


Sparks placed the journal back. _Momma never got over him. They were right. Why did she have to die?_ He angrily blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. _This won't help Roddie. Her cousin and his gang will probably help, once they understand how bad Colonel Exhaust is and what he wants to do to Roddie._ He let the lid of the trunk fall closed. _And they knew Mom and my dad. Maybe they wouldn't mid tellin me 'bout 'em. Okay, so I'm sneakin into the party tonight. Gotta check these guys out. And I gotta protect Roddie._

* * *

The sorrel-furred mouse walked into his apartment with a sigh. The Rock Squad was in fine form, but practice flights away from the _Fury_ were exhausting. And now he had to get ready for this party of Roddie's. Lance sighed. There was no way he could get out of it. 

Sparks twisted around in the chair in front of the television. The set was tuned into the music channel and was playing the human band Pink Floyd's "Brick in the Wall." The grey-furred eight-year-old had a book in his hands. "Hiya, Lance. Roddie's gettin ready for the party." 

Lance dropped his flight bag into the living room closet. "Why aren't you?" 

"I can't go." 

Lance sighed. _More trouble at school. Sparks doesn't think I've got any right to boss him around. And Roddie hates it when anyone tries to intervene. Not that Sparks would take my advice. Can't rush the whole trust thing, not when it took so long for him to warm-up to the marriage idea._ "Do you want to tell me why or should I let Roddie?" 

The kid made a face like he had eaten something disagreeable. "Better let Roddie. But I've already been assigned my punishment." 

"All right." Lance left him and entered the master bedroom. His suit and Roddie's dress were laid across the bed. His ear twitched at her choice. There was barely enough material to constitute a dress. He walked to their bathroom. 

His beautiful wife was up to her slender neck in a bubble bath. Her long black hair was piled between her ears and antennae. She hummed along with the song playing softly on the radio. He leaned against the doorjamb. "Why did you pick that dress?" 

"Cause I know how hot it makes you to know that every male in the room wants to take me to bed and you're the only one who can." Her solid blue eyes stared up at him mischievously. 

"You're dangerous, woman." 

"And don't you forget it." 

"Excitement on the bridge today?" He tugged the zipper of his flight suit down and shrugged the top of the jumpsuit off his arms and shoulders. 

"My big bro-cuz and his bros got transported in. The ones I thought were dead. Apparently, they've been alive and well and kicking Plutarkian ass on Earth." Roddie's smile was a mixture of nostalgia and bliss. 

He remembered how much they meant to her. She had shown him when they had shared their memories from before the War. She needed something to make her happy right now. And having a few Freedom Fighters loyal to Roddie around wasn't a bad idea either. "And now they're here? He's not going to pull the whole you're-not-good-enough-for-my-little-sister act on me, is he? The best thing about our marriage is no disapproving relations." Lance smirked down at her. 

Roddie smirked back. "Really? I thought it was the sex. Throttle better not. I've got stuff to throw in his face that he would die if Vinnie and Modo knew about." 

"Nothing like a little blackmail to keep everyone in line." 

She draped a soapy, black-furred leg over the side of the tub. "You know, there's enough room for two in here." 

She didn't have to hint twice. 

* * *

Vinnie couldn't keep still. Modo finally grabbed both ends of the untied bow tie and gave the white mouse a hard shake. "Does Throttle have to sit on ya before I can get this done?" 

The white mouse took a deep breath and tried to stand perfectly still while the grey mouse's flesh and metal fingers expertly knotted the tie. "Man, I hate monkey suits! Way too much trouble to go to." 

"Yeah, but you gotta dig the effect they have on the ladies." 

"Humph. I have that effect on the ladies no matter what I wear." 

Throttle chuckled. "Only in that fantasy universe you call _reality_." 

"Hardee, har, har. Let's go. I wanna show Roddie what she's missin." 

"She's probably got a good idea already." Modo released Vinnie with a laugh and headed for the main door of their suite. Vinnie surged in his wake. 

Throttle glanced at the slightly opened door to the other bedroom, then back at his bros. "Go ahead, I'll catch up." Modo and Vinnie exchanged looks, shrugged, and left. The tan mouse sighed and stepped over to the door. He pushed it further open, raised his hand to knock, and froze. 

Charley's back was to the door and she was bent over, tugging a high-heeled shoe onto her foot. The ankle-length sea-green dress's back was open, exposing the entire expanse of her pale-peach back, obviously it was designed to start the skirt of the dress under a female mouse's tail. The seam had been adjusted for Charley, but it still dipped provocatively toward her ass. 

Throttle swallowed hard and brought his hand back to adjust the collar of the tuxedo he was wearing. He still remembered the way her body curved to meet his, how that skin felt under his fingers--smooth, sweaty, strange, perfect. He wanted to close the gap between them, hold her tight, and kiss every inch of her visible spine. He grabbed hold of the doorjamb, feeling hot and dizzy. _She just wants to be friends. Just friends! What happened last week was between two lonely friends without anyone else to turn to. You may not like it, but you're gonna keep control and respect it!_

Charley wobbled slightly, catching herself against the end of the bed. Her right leg parted the slit up to her knee on that side. "This dress is too long and too tight." 

"Looks fine from here." Throttle hadn't realized he voiced that thought until Charley quickly straightened and whirled around. A flush was spreading across her cheeks; was it from anger or embarrassment? _Make a joke out of it, quickly!_ "Sorry, thought you were looking for a compliment." 

"It works better when you don't try to sneak it up on someone. Haven't you heard of knocking?" The front of her dress had thin straps over her shoulders and dipped slightly into her cleavage. 

Throttle tore his gaze up to her face and was thankful yet again for the field specs covering his eyes. Her chestnut hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail and a pair of long ringlets framed her face. "You're the one who left the door open. You're not mad, are you?" 

"No. But you can make sure you're forgiven by escorting me to the ball." 

"I was going to do that anyway. Modo and Vinnie have already left." 

"Then dance with me." 

"Dance?" He echoed. 

"One little dance. You can dance, can't you?" 

"Yes, I can dance. One little dance and everything's forgiven?" 

She walked to the door and slid her slender arm under his, linking their elbows. "You know how I hate to push my luck." 

"But you only live once." Throttle cleared his throat after saying that and led them from the suite. 

* * *

The large ballroom was already filled with guests, with more still arriving. Most were crushed together on the dance floor that took up most of the space in the room. Couples danced to the music from the live band on the stage at the opposite end from the buffet table. A few guests were serving themselves and sitting down at the tables nearby. 

Modo shook his head in disgust. "If you don't quit leering like that, Throttle's gonna pin yer ears to the walls. Not to mention her husband." 

Vinnie glared up at the larger mouse. "What you don't seem to get is that by wearin a dress like that she wants to be leered at. 'Sides, no harm in lookin." 

"You remember when she was a baby!" 

"Yeah, and now she's a babe." 

Throttle joined his bros standing near the buffet table with Charley holding onto his arm. His face turned toward the dance floor and froze. "By the gods," he muttered, eyebrows arching over his field specs. 

Charley followed his gaze. "Wow! And I thought my dress was revealing." 

Vinnie looked the human woman up and down. "Not too bad, sweetheart, but Roddie's got ya beat." 

"Her mother is rollin in her grave," Modo declared. 

"Something tells me it ain't the first time either," Throttle answered. "Sendin her with a bunch of space-dogs at puberty to the asteroids. Yeah, that was a good idea." 

"I remember you agreein with her parents for her not to be a Freedom Fighter," Vinnie commented. 

"Yeah, because she was too young. I never thought sendin her off planet was a good idea." 

Modo looked back at the dance floor. Roddie danced to the band's music with a sorrel-furred mouse about Throttle's height. By the way they embraced, he hoped that mouse was her mysterious husband. She wore a skin-tight, strapless red dress that clung to her breasts, bared her back by ducking under her tail, and the hem stopped just barely an inch below her ass. He had to wonder just how it was staying on. The thirteen-year-old girl that had left Mars would have never worn any style of dress. _Have eight years changed Stella as much?_

The song ended and Roddie pulled her partner to their group. "Guys, this is my husband, Captain Lance of the Rock Squad Fighters. Lance, this is my cousin Throttle. Vinnie. Modo. And their friend Charley." 

The sorrel-furred mouse shook hands with each of them. "Pleased to meet you. Roddie's told me a lot about you." 

"Then you should probably only believe about half of it," Throttle said with a grin. "Roddie, that dress . . .." 

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not getting fashion advice from Mr. I'm-too-cool-to-wear-a-shirt, am I?" 

"Looks good on ya." 

"Really good on ya," Vinnie emphasized. "Care to take a twirl with the studliest mouse in the room? That is, if Lance doesn't mind?" 

"Roddie doesn't need my permission. She outranks me." Lance grinned down at his shorter wife, a mixed expression of admiration, pride, tenderness, and lust. _They ain't been married long,_ Modo thought. 

The black mouse signaled the band, which started playing "The Boys Are Back In Town." Modo groaned. "All grown-up but still the same old Roddie." 

"Whatever do you mean, Modo?" She replied in that mock-innocent voice he remembered. "Come on, Vin-man. Let's see what you're made of." 

Throttle turned to Charley as Roddie and Vinnie trotted out to the dance floor. "Ready to dance?" 

"Any time you are." 

Modo glanced at Lance, feeling the need to say something now that everyone else had left. "Roddie was a handful when she was younger." 

"She still is. But now she's using her powers for good. Excuse me." He turned to another mouse that gestured for his attention. Modo, now left alone, turned to the buffet table. 

He stood at the end of the buffet table with a full plate when he saw a grey tail trying to wrap around an hors d'oeuvre. The others in line hadn't noticed it yet. He followed it to its owner, a young boy hiding behind a tall green bush nearby. Modo leaned against the wall next to the bush. "It's usually easier to just get a plate and go through the line," he advised in a low voice. 

The kid snatched his tail back. "Cheese, mister! Don't tell Roddie I'm here, please?" 

"What would she do if she knew you were here?" 

"Send me back to Mars without a pressure suit." 

"Then why sneak in?" 

The boy's red eyes peered up at him through his shaggy grey bangs and green leaves of the plant. "You're one of those old friends of Roddie's. The Freedom Fighters." 

"Yeah, the name's Modo. You're the kid Roddie adopted?" 

"Yeah, Sparks. She just takes care of me. She can't adopt me 'cause she's military." 

"Pleased to meet ya." Modo held his plate of food where the kid could have some. "So you disobeyed Roddie and snuck into her party. Nice knowin ya, Sparks." 

"I'm just here in case Colonel Exhaust tries something. Roddie and Lance might need backup." 

"Colonel Exhaust?" 

"That white and black mouse over in the corner. He's in charge of Internal Security." 

Modo frowned at the mouse, the only one in the room dressed in a uniform and intensely watching Charley and Throttle dance. The black spot covered his right ear and eye. "Why would he try something?" 

"He hates aliens." 

"And you're gonna stop him all by yourself?" 

"Nah, I'm just a surprise. No one expects the kid to be able to fight." 

"You don't have to worry 'bout him startin something tonight. I'll even see Roddie and Lance home to be sure." 

The kid stared up at him. "Promise?" 

"Biker's honor. Now get home before Roddie makes asteroids out of both of us." 

"Thanks, Mr. Modo." Sparks bent down and opened a ventilation grille hidden behind the plant. He crawled inside the shaft and replaced the grille. 

Modo blinked his eye and turned back to look at Colonel Exhaust. The kid had a gun strapped around his waist. He frowned to himself. Knowing how much Roddie had liked target practice, he had no doubts that Sparks knew how to use the gun. But the fact that he needed to use it; that wasn't right. 

The grey mouse glanced at the dance floor then looked back at Colonel Exhaust. Charley and Throttle weren't doing anything wrong, but the Colonel followed their every move with a gaze of intense concentration. _Something really ain't right here._

* * *

Charley laughed as Throttle pulled her back to him from a spin as the song ended. "Forgiven now?" he asked. 

"Just remember to knock next time." The band began to play another familiar song, a slower song. "I love this song!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned her head against his shoulder, and began to sway. 

He cautiously wrapped his arms around her as they moved gently to the beat. Her scent, so alien yet achingly familiar, filled his nostrils and flooded his mind with thoughts he was better off not having. The lead singer began the ballad.  
  
**_I don't wanna hear about it, anymore  
It's a shame I got to live without you, anymore  
There's a fire in my heart  
A pounding in my brains  
Driving me crazy_**

His fingers against her skin were electric. Charley felt her breath quicken. _How could Carbine just give up on you? I wish you were over her. Maybe then you could see me as something besides a friend.  
  
**We don't need to talk about it, anymore  
Yesterday's just a memory  
Can we close the door?  
I just made one mistake  
I didn't know what to say  
When you called me baby**_

Throttle could have rested his cheek against hers. But he didn't. The gesture was too personal, would mean something was between them that she didn't want. _I could be so much more than a friend. Why don't you want me? Because of whatever happened between you and Vinnie? Because you're afraid I'll go back to Mars?  
  
**Don't say good night  
Say you're gonna stay forever  
Oh, oh all the way  
  
Can you take me high enough?  
To fly me over yesterday  
Can you take me high enough?  
It's never over  
Yesterday's just a memory  
Yesterday's just a memory**_

Charley tightened her hold around his neck. _Don't let this moment end. I don't care if Limburger's destroying everything I've loved since my childhood. As long as you hold me, it doesn't matter. Hold me tighter, Throttle.  
  
**I don't wanna live without you, anymore  
Can't you see I'm in misery?  
And you know for sure  
I will live and die for you  
And I know just what to do  
When you call me baby**_

Throttle pressed her closer. That hot and dizzy feeling had returned. _After what we shared, how can you just want to be friends? Did it mean nothing? Just a night of fun? No, it wasn't just fun. You were too worried about me. Worried that your **friend** was loosing it for keeps.  
  
**Don't say good-bye  
Say you're gonna stay forever  
Oh, oh all the way  
  
Can you take me high enough?  
To fly me over yesterday  
Can you take me high enough?  
It's never over  
Yesterday's just a memory  
  
Running  
I was running for the door  
The next thing I remember  
I was running back for more  
Yeah!**_

Charley closed her eyes. Her heart pounded, but he didn't seem to notice. _You said you had dreams about me! You wanted to hold me! Was one night enough? And if it was, why have you avoided getting this close to me? Are you afraid I want more than just friendship? I do, but I won't make a scene about it. Sometimes you just can't have a relationship with a fantasy.  
  
**Don't say good-bye  
Say you're gonna stay forever  
Oh, oh all the way  
  
Can you take me high enough?  
Can you fly me over yesterday?  
Can you take me high enough?  
It's never over**_

Throttle closed his eyes. The blood rushing in his ears made it hard to hear the music. _I wanna stay this close to you. I need to be this close to you. The universe actually feels like it makes sense when I'm with you. And all you were trying to do was prove that someone cared for me the only way I could understand at the time. And it's over. I'm better. And we're just friends. 'Cause you don't want anything more than that.  
  
**Can you take me high enough?  
Won't you fly me over yesterday?  
Can you take me high enough?  
It's never over**_

The song wound down and ended. The band announced they were taking a break. Charley pulled away with a nervous laugh. "Sorry, but I have always loved that song." 

Throttle smiled. "Want me to get 'em to play it again?" 

She blushed. "That's all right. I think you've spoiled me enough tonight." 

"I don't mind," he whispered then cleared his throat. "Let's get something to drink." 

* * *

Modo listened patiently as Lance explained the Rock Squad's function in the _Fury_'s command structure. He understood about as much of it as he did of Carbine's explanation of how the Martian Army worked. He could understand having a leader and obeying the leader's orders, but the protocol, rules, and regulations seemed like a waste of time and a hindrance to getting the job done. 

Vinnie rejoined Modo as Roddie dragged Lance back out to the dance floor. "She wore you out?" The older grey mouse chuckled. 

"Nah, she wanted to dance with Lance again. But ya know it's probably a good thing she wasn't a Freedom Fighter. She would have been way too distractin." Vinnie gulped down the glass of blue liquid he got off a waitress's tray. 

"Everybody after her, Throttle doing his big brother act, and Freedom Fighters fightin each other instead of stinkfish?" The white mouse nodded. "Nah, you two would have been an item or killed each other way before any mess like that could've happened," Modo concluded. 

"Me and Roddie an item? You've been sniffin gas fumes?" 

"She had a huge crush on ya, man." 

"No way, Modo. The brat always yanked my tail and called me _bonehead_." Vinnie frowned. 

"Yeah, but you're the only one whose tail she pulled and called _bonehead_. She didn't even pick on Throttle like that and she's related to him." 

"No way, bro. No way." Vinnie shook his head and moved toward the buffet table. 

Throttle and Charley passed him as they joined Modo. "What's wrong with Vinnie?" she asked. "He looked like something upset him." 

"He's just reinterpreting past events in light of newly-learned emotional motivations." Modo grinned. 

"Meaning you told him that Roddie had a crush on him the size of Olympus Mons," Throttle chuckled. "He never saw that comin." 

"You guys are all the same. You never notice what's going on under your whiskers." 

"Don't be too hard on him, Charley-girl. Roddie was a scrawny tomboy two years younger than he was. Not exactly a sex symbol for a horny teenager," Throttle explained. 

"So why tell him now?" 

"Just to mess with his head," Modo answered. 


	3. Chapter Three: Exhaust

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Three: Exhaust**

_So Roddie had a crush on me all those years ago. What girl hasn't?_ Vinnie thoughtfully chewed on a finger sandwich. _Too bad she's taken now. Then again, Throttle knows my rep. I don't want him mad at me for hurtin Roddie. And then there's Tala. If she ever shows up on Earth again._

Someone stood beside him. He glanced up at Axle. The cream-furred mouse with snow-white, curly hair was still dressed in her drab-olive green jumpsuit. "Hey, how come you're not dressed up?" 

"I am still on duty." She dutifully scanned the crowd. 

"Doesn't Roddie ever let you off?" 

"Sometimes. Where is My Captain?" 

"On the dance floor." He waved a hand toward the crowd of moving bodies in the ballroom. "What's up?" 

The strange pale mouse didn't answer, just moved into the crowd. Vinnie paused for a moment with his antennae twitching. _Oh yeah, something's up._ He found Throttle, Modo, and Charley, and trotted over to them. "Something's going on and not here." 

"Whatcha mean?" Throttle asked. 

Vinnie gestured to the door. Roddie and Lance were following Axle out. 

"Are we gonna lend a hand?" Modo asked. 

"Let's go." 

They caught up with the group outside of an elevator on the wall of the hold. Roddie shook her head. "Guys, go back to the party. This is just ship's business." 

"What? And miss out?" Vinnie demanded. 

"Which would mean less trouble? Us coming with you or leaving us at the party with no supervision?" Throttle offered. 

The black mouse sighed. "All right, but I'm calling the shots. Got it?" 

"Yeah." 

"Sure." 

"No problem." 

They surged onto the elevator. Axle worked the controls. Floors of hanger bays flew past the second door to the car. They smoothly rose to a stop and stepped out. 

A strident female voice greeted them. "You can take that directive and shove it! Or better yet, bring it here and I'll show you where to shove it!" 

Vinnie felt his heart pound. _It can't be. But no one else in the universe sounds that way when they're pissed._ "Tala!" 

Roddie looked at him in puzzlement, but stopped herself from asking anything. Instead, she led the way around a group of ill-clothed and malnourished mice and into the hanger bay proper. 

The black ship with _More Hot Stuff_ boldly painted in white across its side was parked in the center of the hanger bay with its ramp lowered. Its human owner stood beside it, hands planted on her blue-jean-clad hips near her holstered gun, and she glared at the two mice in front of her. A thin grey-furred female mouse holding a green-skinned humanoid toddler in her arms cowered behind her. 

"What's going on?" Roddie demanded. 

Tala turned to her, relief visible in her blue eyes but her face still radiating anger. "Internal Security isn't letting this baby on board." 

"It is in the child's best interest." The short mouse with white and black fur and dressed in what looked similar a red and black military uniform smoothly interjected. "He should be raised among his own kind." 

The blonde human bristled. "It's in his best interest to be raised among people who love him. And she does." 

Roddie took the computer pad from the grey-furred mouse standing deferentially behind the white and black mouse. Her solid blue eyes scanned it quickly. "I never approved this. And I won't. Everyone who has been hurt by slavers and the Plutarkians is welcome on the _Fury_. That has always been our operating procedure and it will continue to be so as long as I am captain." Her black tail lashed angrily through the air. "And you know, Colonel Exhaust, that any directive you decide is beneficial for the ship must be approved by me." 

"I apologize, Captain. I was under the impression that the directive had been sent to you. When I did not hear back from you, I assumed it was approved." 

"It was not sent to me. And it will not be approved ever. So please inform your Internal Security officers to disregard it. And if anyone harasses this woman or this child, I will personally throw them in the brig!" 

"And you would be perfectly justified for doing so. Excuse me, Captain, while I fix this fiasco." He bowed his head slightly and moved stiffly to the elevator followed by the other military mouse. 

Roddie turned to the mouse holding the baby. "I'm so sorry for this. You are welcome on the _Fury_, both of you." 

The young mouse nodded her head fearfully as she clutched the green-skinned toddler tighter. Another mouse from the group wrapped an arm around her frail shoulders and guided her back to the group as Axle led them from the hanger bay. 

Tala seethed quietly as the group left. "Why hasn't a nice accident befallen the Colonel yet? Like getting too close to the airlock late one night?" 

Roddie rubbed the spot between her eyes. "Because he would get replaced by someone just as bad. And they would have Exhaust as a martyr. Besides, that's his tactics. I don't play that game." 

"Roddie, what's going on?" Throttle asked. 

"It's my problem and my ship. I'll handle it," she snapped. 

"Well, you guys are a bit far from your stompin grounds," Tala said lightly, breaking the uneasy silence. "What gives?" 

"Limburger gave us a one-way transporter ride." Charley answered, glancing at Throttle and Roddie. "Hey, wait a minute. You could send us back with your transporter." 

"Yeah, but not yet," Vinnie interjected quickly. "We have a party to get back to." 

"Yes, please come, Tala," Roddie added. "It's the least I can do for you having to deal with Exhaust." 

Tala sighed. "Thanks but I'm not really in a party mood." 

"How can you not be?" The black-furred mouse grinned. 

Vinnie had a brain wave. Tala would hem and haw and fight her way out of coming to the party. And he hadn't seen her for a month. And bringing her to the party would be like a date. And she had agreed to go out on some with him. "If you don't come, I'll tell everyone what happened at the ravine." 

She stiffened and stared at the white mouse. "You promised!" 

"So did you." 

Various expressions crossed her face as she glared at Vinnie. Finally, she sighed with resignation. "All right, I'll go change." Vinnie's grin stretched from ear to ear as she disappeared into her ship. 

"What did happen at the ravine?" Modo asked. 

Vinnie winked his metal encircled eye. "Can't tell, bro. I promised. Get back to the party. I'll make sure she gets there." 

Roddie shrugged. "Your call, Vin-man. Let's go." 

Vinnie leaned against one of the _More Hot Stuff_'s landing struts as he waited for Tala to reappear. 

* * *

It didn't seem like anyone had missed them from the party. Lance led Roddie out to the dance floor. "A bit harsh on your cousin." He felt inclined to like Throttle. The tan mouse's leadership qualities were hard to miss. And he had quickly picked up on the tension caused by Exhaust. 

"I'm a big girl now. I can handle Exhaust without those three blowing up everything in sight." 

"That's not the issue, my love." 

Roddie pulled his head down and shut him up with a kiss. "I don't want to talk about it now." She threw herself into dancing. 

Lance sighed as he matched her moves. It was no good to fight her stubborn streak; six months of marriage had taught him that. _Did it completely escape your notice that they brought an alien with them? One your cousin is very undeniably attracted to?_ He sighed again. _Maybe they wouldn't be here long enough for Exhaust to try anything._

* * *

Throttle chuckled as he and the grey mouse sat down at one of the tables set up to one side of the ballroom. "Well, he's gonna be insufferable to live with for a couple of weeks. Have to wish him luck. He's gonna need it with the mood she's in." 

"Do ya think it's gonna work out for him?" Modo asked between sips of root beer. 

"I hope so. But Vinnie's track record ain't real good. First Harley, then Charley." 

"What about me?" Charley walked up to the table and stood between them. 

"We were just discussing Vinnie and Tala's chances." The large grey mouse explained. 

"Well, she hasn't tried to kill him yet." 

"But that could be 'cause she doesn't know him yet." Throttle pointed out. 

"I think they'll make it. If Vinnie doesn't screw it up." 

"So it's Vinnie's fault it didn't work out between you two?" The tan mouse arched his eyebrows over his field specs. 

"It didn't work out because it didn't work out. Modo, do you want to dance?" 

He gulped as he looked up at the human woman. "Only if you want yer feet broken, Charley-ma'am. Graceful, I ain't." 

"I'll dance with you again." Throttle stood up and offered his hand. 

"You don't have to." 

"I want to." 

Modo watched them move out to the dance floor. _They have been actin weird around each other ever since they had that "talk." Hell, Throttle never did like openin up to anybody._ He shrugged and watched the dancers. 

* * *

Tala took a deep breath that did nothing to ease the nervous fluttering of her stomach. She smoothed the long purple silk skirt over her hips. _You'd think I actually give a damn about what that mouse thinks of me by the way I'm acting._

"Don't you?" she whispered to herself. She angrily shook her head and descended the ramp. 

Vinnie dressed in a form-fitting black tuxedo straightened from leaning against a landing strut. He growled audibly. "Maybe I won't mind doing this once a month if you look this good." 

She felt her cheeks grow hot. _It's not like I have a big wardrobe choice. This is the only dress I own._ She nervously smoothed the white leather bodice and pulled at the cuffs of the long purple silk sleeves. "I told you my work comes first when you decided to start this experiment." 

"That wasn't a complaint, Doll-Face. You're a professional. I can dig that. 'Sides," he grinned cockily, "once you have tail, you never go back." 

"I haven't had tail yet." 

"Detail, detail." He waved it away and offered his arm. Tala raised her eyebrows. "It's the clothes. And I've been watching how the other couples show up." 

She sighed and linked her arm with his. "Geez, this is startin to feel like that Prom thing I missed out on. You hiding a corsage behind your back?" MC, the AI in charge of the ship, locked up the _More Hot Stuff_ as Vinnie led the way to the hanger bay elevator. 

"I'd have to know what you're talking about before I could hide one behind my back. Prom thing sounds familiar." His white snout crinkled as he concentrated. "Yeah, Charley blew away that Rod Van Ham for dumping her at the Prom!" 

"I didn't think Charley was that violent. Must be a big deal." 

Vinnie frowned. "You missed it because you were in space?" 

"My last trip to Earth was in 1990 by its calendar." 

"Sheesh, babe. How do you expect us to date if you visit my current address every five years or so?" 

"With Plutarkians on Earth, I'll probably be around more often." The elevator finally reached the ground floor of Olympian City, and Vinnie led her to the large ballroom. "I don't know if I'm up to this." The nervous fluttering in her stomach combined with the worrying in her mind was making her feel nauseous. 

"The music's good, and we can just eat and talk if you want. Come on." He led her toward the buffet table and tables set up for eating. 

* * *

"Is there something between them?" Roddie gestured in the direction of Vinnie and Tala's table. The couple had settled about five tables away from the larger group. 

"The usual Vinnie infatuation," Modo said. 

"Vinnie'll chase anything in a skirt. But how does Tala feel?" 

"Nobody knows and she ain't tellin," Throttle answered. "But she does seem willing to spend time with him." 

Charley covered a yawn with her hand. "Roddie, you throw a great party but I'm beat." She stood up, and Modo, Throttle, and Lance stood up as well. "Good night." 

Modo and Lance sat back down but Throttle offered her his arm. "I'll see you back." 

And then what? Shake my hand, make sure I'm safe like a good friend would? "You don't have to. I'm sure you and Roddie still have catching up to do." 

"We're doing that tomorrow," Roddie said. "If you macho mice are sticking around that long?" 

"Yeah, but not much longer." Throttle turned back to Charley. "I brought you to the party; I'm supposed to see you back. Modo might complain about my manners but I do have some." 

"Which puts him a step above Vinnie." Modo grinned at the dirty look from his tan-furred bro. 

Charley sighed and took hold of his arm, ignoring the part of her that wanted to grip it tighter. "I'm too tired to argue. Let's go." 

* * *

Vinnie sighed. "Some date this is turnin out to be." 

Tala slammed her fork down on the table. "Look, I told you I wasn't in the mood." 

"Then show me who to beat up so I can put a smile on your face." 

She frowned. Her blue eyes focused on something past Vinnie. They snapped back to attention quickly. "How well do you guys know Roddie?" 

"We grew up with her. She's Throttle's cousin, but they act more like brother and sister. We ain't seen her for eight years, when the _Fury_ took off." 

"I've been running supplies and people for them for about a year. Since I've started and Colonel Exhaust took over Internal Security, the non-mouse population has been leaving. Nothing very obvious, nothing you can trace back, but Internal Security has _encouraged_ them to relocate." 

The white mouse frowned. "That sounds like something humans would do." 

"We don't have an exclusive on bigotry, ya know." She picked up her fork and stabbed it into her food. 

"No need to get your panties in a knot. Even you gotta admit your species ain't the most open-minded." 

"If you're trying to pick a fight, you're on the right track." 

"Okay, okay. You think this Colonel Exhaust clown is behind it?" 

She brushed her fingers against the short blonde hair on her temple. "Probably. It's not a good situation. And I don't really like leaving a baby in the middle of it." 

Vinnie shrugged and the tight black jacket moved with his shoulders. "So stick around till you can make it right. It's not like you gotta schedule to stick to." 

"I have to get you guys back to Chicago." 

"You can transport us back. No time limit. 'Sides, Roddie may need back-up." He looked up to see her staring at him quizzically. "What?" 

"It's just disconcerting when you make sense." 

"It's the same no matter where I go. No respect for the baddest mammajammer in the universe." 

* * *

Throttle and Charley had decided to walk back to their suite bypassing the wheeled transports waiting outside the ballroom. The main lights of the hold had been turned off and streetlights lined the streets and the paths through the park. 

"Are you okay?" Charley asked. 

Throttle sighed. "Was I gettin moody?" 

"Not really. You just looked concerned." 

"If my little sis-cuz is in trouble, I wanna get her out of it. But I can't help if she won't tell me what's going on." 

"Little sis-cuz?" 

His throat tightened. _She's already seen me at my worst and she didn't run away. And she deserves to know something about what we've dumped her in the middle of._ "My parents died when I was four. My father's brother and his wife took me in and raised me. Roddie was born a few months later." 

"That explains a lot. But Throttle, she's been on her own for eight years and she's the Captain of the entire ship. Maybe she can't afford to look like she's depending on you guys." 

"You're probably right, babe. But that scene at Tala's ship still kinks my tail." _Roddie was seething. I could feel it pouring off of her. And it's true we don't know Tala very well, but she doesn't seem the type to suggest throwing a guy out of an airlock just 'cause he's got something against a baby. Not for free, anyway._ He frowned to himself. 

Charley squeezed his arm slightly to get his attention. "If it's bothering you so much, why not talk to Roddie about it?" 

"That's a good idea, thanks." 


	4. Chapter Four: Stella

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Four: Stella**

Modo trailed after Roddie and Lance as they left the ballroom. The sorrel-furred mouse moved ahead to get a transport. The grey mouse touched her bare black shoulder gently with his metal hand. "Roddie, I," he faltered. "How's Stella?" 

Roddie's solid blue eyes looked up at him, strickenly. "Oh Modo." 

His stomach curled up into a ball. "She didn't make it," he whispered. 

"She died five years ago. A type of cancer." He could feel Roddie's hand on his flesh arm. "Modo, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." 

"S'all right, Roddie. You took care of her. At least she was safe out here." 

"She never stopped loving you." 

His throat tightened. If he had anything else to say--which he didn't--it wouldn't have come out. He bent down and gave the smaller mouse an awkward hug and pushed her gently into the arms of her husband. Then he stumbled away down the street, not really caring where he ended up. 

* * *

"What was that about?" Lance asked with concern. 

"Throttle hadn't told him Stella was dead." The black-furred mouse stared out the window of the transport's back seat. 

"Why was he asking about Stella?" 

"They used to date. Back on Mars." 

Lance paused, visualizing the large grey mouse. "Roddie, he has to be Sparks's father. They look just alike." 

"He is." 

The transport stopped in front of their apartment building. Lance didn't resume the conversation until they were alone together in the elevator. "Aren't you going to tell them?" 

"Stella made me promise." Roddie crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. 

Lance ignored her don't-wanna-talk-about-it attitude. "Sparks needs his father. And that Modo's expression looked like he had lost everything in the universe that meant anything to him. How can you not tell them?" 

"Stella didn't want Modo to know. She didn't want him coming back out of guilt." 

"Stella is dead." 

"I keep my word, Lance. To the living and to the dead! Stella made me promise not to tell Modo about Sparks. I told her I wouldn't. She made me promise to take care of him. I told her I would. You knew it was a package deal when you married me." The elevator stopped at their floor and she stormed off. 

"Damnit, Roddie! I'm not trying to separate you two. You have to do what's best for Sparks." 

She paused outside their apartment door. "I am! Sparks is safe here. He has an opportunity to become something more than a biker bum or a Freedom Fighter caught up in a never-ending war. That's something Stella and I both agreed on; Sparks should stay as far away from the war as possible. I won't have Modo dragging him into the stinkfishes' grasp." 

"That's not your decision to make. You're not Sparks's parent." 

"As far as this ship is concerned, I am!" She opened the door to their apartment, marched through it, and slammed the door of their master bedroom shut. 

Lance sighed and followed her more quietly. The bedroom door was locked. He banged his forehead slightly against the wall. "This is what I get for trying to reason with her." 

"Evening ended on a sour note, huh?" Sparks leaned against the doorjamb of his bedroom. The pajamas-clad boy hadn't gone to bed yet; Lance could see the computer game running on the desk in the room. 

"You didn't hear us in the hall, did you?" 

"Nah, these apartments are pretty solid to cut down on neighborly noise. But when Roddie comes home like that, she's pissed." 

"You're right, she is. Looks like I'm on the couch tonight." 

"Six months. Hmm, I wonder who won the pool." 

"Pool?" Lance looked down at the grey-furred boy. 

Sparks pushed his thick grey bangs out of his eyes. "The bridge crew had a pool running on how long it would take ya'll to have yer first big fight." 

"By the void, I don't think we give some people enough work to do around here. Go to bed." 

"Aye, aye, Captain." The boy gave a mock salute as he shut his bedroom door. 

* * *

Throttle was finding it hard to concentrate on what Charley was saying. The heat generated by her touch on his arm had spread through his body. And he was very self-consciously aware of the throbbing produced by her presence. 

They walked down the hall toward the suite. Charley paused near a decorative floor-to-ceiling niche occupied by a large potted plant. "Ship to Throttle. Come in, Throttle." She laughed as she waved a hand in front of his face. "You haven't heard a single word I've said since we got up here." 

"Sorry." 

"You're not still worried about Roddie, are you? I thought you decided to talk to her tomorrow about it?" 

I've gotta tell her how I feel. Damnit, the worse she can tell me is that she doesn't feel the same way. And then maybe we can deal with it. "I wasn't thinking about Roddie." 

"Then what's worrying you now?" 

He swallowed hard and turned to face her. "Something I should admit." His voice was huskier than usual. She looked up at him, her eyebrows crinkling with concern. _It wasn't this hard with Carbine. Why is it so hard?_ He heard the laser shot at the same moment he stepped closer to her. 

A searing pain cut across his right shoulder blade as he pushed Charley back into the niche. "Throttle!" She cried at his grunt of pain. He ignored her as he flattened his body against hers. Another shot whizzed near their heads. He turned. 

The shooter, a male mouse disguised in an opaque helmet and black jumpsuit, drew back into the doorway he stood in. It was the stairwell door, clearly labeled in Martian script. An overwhelming fury fused with Throttle's desire to protect and the needs his body developed just by Charley's touch. _That son of a rat is not getting away!_ Throttle growled and ran down the hall and into the stairwell after him. 

He ran down three flights of stairs before slapping his left hand to his not-present holster. _You idiot!_ He paused on the landing between the third and fourth floors, trying to listen for a sound from the sniper. He had gone downstairs automatically, but the shooter could have gone up or down. _But what the hell are you gonna do if you do find him? The fact that you are unarmed should not be something you forget!_

He silently shifted his stance and gritted his teeth. His right leg--still not healed from getting shot last week--pounded with pain from all the exertion. He heard something above him--soft slapping footfalls on the concrete. He eased to the center of the stairs to look up. 

Charley's face darted over the railing on the floor above. "Missing this?" She tossed his laser pistol to him. 

He caught it easily, automatically readying it to shoot as he gripped it in his left hand. "Stay back. I don't know where he went." 

A door opened below them. Throttle sprinted after the sound, ignoring the pain in his leg. The door leading to the second floor was swinging shut. He grabbed it and yanked it open. The hall was empty. "Shit!" 

Charley joined him on the landing. She had kicked off her high heels and carried Vinnie's laser pistol in her hand. _She always does that. Sees what we miss, comes up with plans that require more than a weapon and a target._ "He got away?" she asked. 

"Looks like it." 

She touched his back gently, feeling his red blood on the tuxedo jacket. "It looks bad. We better go find a doctor." 

"No. You can patch me up." 

"But Throttle." 

"Avoids awkward questions, Charley-girl. And I don't wanna give information out to the wrong people." She sighed but followed him back up to their rooms. 

She found a medkit in her bathroom and returned to the main room. Throttle had already shucked off the tuxedo jacket, bow tie, and white shirt, and sat on the edge of the couch. She set the small box onto his lap as she knelt on the couch behind him. "Ruined the suit," she observed. 

"Cheese, what a shame." 

She ignored the sarcasm in his statement. "My thought exactly." 

What is she trying to say? She likes how I look dressed up? It had never occurred to him. He knew he was fairly handsome and that the shades, leather, and bare chest made for a powerful visual combination. But good-looking in a monkey suit? He remembered how the women had fainted at Limburger's costume party when they had seen Modo in a tux. _Or is she just teasing? She knows how much we hate dressing up. Or is she serious?_

Her fingers gently touched the area around the wound on his shoulder. He felt his skin grow hot as he ignored the throbbing pain from his shoulder and leg. It was unbearable; being this close to her, yet equally unbearable was the thought that it had to end. She started cleaning the wound. The gash that cut across his shoulder blade was about four inches long. Blood still oozed from the deeper tissue. The laser bolt had cauterized the top layer of fur, skin, and muscle. "This is pretty deep. You might need stitches. And that wasn't covered by my first aid badge." 

"Can you see bone?" He opened the medkit and started digging through it; glad she had changed the topic of conversation. He didn't have to try to figure out any plays on words or what to say when she pays a compliment. If it was a compliment. Better just to move on. 

Charley lifted the cloth briefly. "No." She pressed it back down to help the wound clot. 

"Don't need stitches. They still have duraskin." He passed a small jar of a clear jelly-like substance to her. "Fill the hole in with that stuff. When it hardens and turns red-brown, I'm as good as new." 

"What is it?" She asked as she carefully followed his instructions. 

"Duraskin. Hi-tech Band-Aid. We ran through our supply pretty quickly during the war and the Plutarkians destroyed any way of making more once we started fighting back." 

"Maybe we should bring a case of the stuff back to Chicago. For all these times when you're alone with me and get shot or beat up." She recapped the jar and handed it back to him, sitting back on her heels. 

He turned slightly to face her. "And I thought you liked playing doctor." His heart pounded. _Why the hell did I say it like that? I meant the first aid, that's all I meant! Though she's great in the other sense,_ the rebellious and lustful voice in his mind added as the context for his pounding heart shifted. 

Charley didn't find the unintentional insult. "I'd like it better if I had a license. Maybe we should just avoid being alone together." 

Her green eyes were focused on the floor. Her chest noticeably rose and fell with every breath. That strange hot and dizzy feeling was making his head swim. He reached out with his left hand and touched her cheek, turning her face toward him. "I don't wanna avoid being with you." _Even though I have, I don't want to anymore. It's taken me a whole week to realize it._

"Throttle." His fingers slipped off her cheek and down to her throat. He could feel her pulse racing to match his own. 

"Did I tell you that you looked beautiful tonight?" His voice had dropped again. Instead of muffling the sounds, the blood in his ears amplified them. Her dress rustled with each breath she took. 

"Not really," she whispered as she pressed her hands against his chest. 

"Well, you are." He cupped his hand around the back of her head and drew her face closer to his. She closed her eyes and slightly parted her moist pink lips. He closed his eyes to savor her sweetness. 

The door to the hall opened and slammed shut. Charley and Throttle's eyes flew open as they jerked back from each other. Vinnie stopped humming to himself. "Whoa! I'm not interruptin anything, am I?" 

"Nah, Vincent, you're not," Throttle answered flatly. 

Charley got up off the couch and the white mouse was able to see Throttle's back and bloody clothes clearly. He bounded over to the couch. "What happened? Who messed with ya, bro?" 

"He got shot," Charley said sharply. "Don't you know that any time we have non-destructive fun, the evening has to end with a life-threatening situation?" She squatted down and snatched her high heels up out of the middle of the floor. "Good night." 

Throttle winced and sighed as her bedroom door slammed shut. "Aw hell," he muttered. _When did I become the butt of some cosmic joke? I spend a miserable week pretending that nothing's changed between us, trying so hard not to push her into something she doesn't want. And when I decide to be honest and try to explain how I feel, I get shot and Vinnie shows up._ It was maddening, infuriating, depressing all at the same time. 

Vinnie frowned as he looked down at Throttle's shoulder then up at Charley's bedroom door. "The shooter got away?" 

"Yeah." His answer was distracted. He was trying to figure out if Charley was upset because of the interruption or because he made a pass. 

"Who was he aiming at?" 

Throttle looked up. Vinnie wanted details? A hard glint was in Vinnie's red eyes, his ready-to-rumble glint. The tan mouse frowned as he thought back. "Charley. I stepped into it. What do you know?" 

"Only what Tala told me. The non-mouse population has been leaving, and she thinks that Exhaust guy's behind it." 

"Does he know about Roddie?" 

"Throttle, don't get mad. Roddie's practically family but anyone can look at her and see she ain't all mouse." 

"I know. The eyes. Would it piss you off if we stuck around here for a while?" 

"Not since Tala's decided to do the same. Gotta grab my chances with her when they present themselves." 

Throttle opened his mouth to make a snide comment when the main door jerked opened and slammed shut again. Modo stormed through the main room chasing Vinnie out of his way with a snarl and slammed the door of their bedroom shut. "Aw hell," Throttle muttered. "Roddie must have told him about Stella." 

"What happened to Stella?" Vinnie asked. 

Throttle didn't answer right away. He closed up the medkit and stood up. _I should've told him. I shouldn't have let him get his hopes up 'bout a reunion._ He set the medkit on the table near the dumbwaiter and went back to the couch to gather his clothes. _But I wanted to get him alone. I know how much he hates anyone to see him broken up._

"What happened to Stella?" Vinnie repeated. 

Modo yanked open the bedroom door now dressed in his usual street clothes. He stormed through the main room and back out again. 

Charley jerked open her bedroom door just in time to see the grey tail disappear. She wrapped the robe tighter around her dripping form. "What's wrong now? What was that?" 

"Hurricane Modo," Vinnie supplied. 

Throttle turned toward her, wincing behind his field specs. His leg still hurt. "He got some bad news about someone." He went into their bedroom and grabbed his sleeveless leather jacket. 

"Did she marry somebody else?" Vinnie demanded. 

"Guess again." 

Charley's green eyes opened wide. "This is the refugee ship Stella was on? What happened to her?" 

Both mice stopped and stared at her. "How in the hell did you know that, Sweetheart?" Vinnie finally managed to ask with his eyes practically bugging out of his head. 

"Modo told me about her when we were on Mars last month. What happened?" 

Modo told her about Stella? He didn't even tell his mother! Bola found out from Vinnie and me. Throttle was surprised by the resentment he felt. Anger that Modo had shared part of his pre-War life with Charley. But why? Over three years, Charley had proved to be a loyal friend. She had been kind and compassionate with everything else they had shared with her. It wasn't like Modo wanted Charley; he thought of her as a sister that needed watching out for. So why did he feel so upset? "She died," he answered simply, not revealing his conflicted emotions. "Come on, Vinnie, let's go get him before he breaks the ship." 

"Wait a minute, let me get dressed." 

"Not a good idea." Vinnie shook his head at the human woman. 

"Yeah, if Modo's in the mood to bust some heads, he'd really be pissed at us for bringin you. Ur, finish your bath." Throttle felt his face grow hot as his imagination quickly helped her back into the tub. "Wait for us here. We'll bring him back." He grabbed Vinnie's arm and pulled him out into the hall. 

* * *

Modo had found a bar housed in a portion of the lobby five floors below. By the time Throttle and Vinnie had found him, the grey mouse had finished half a bottle of whiskey. He set it down on the counter, shoved a barstool under his ass, picked up the bottle, and started guzzling again. 

Throttle sighed and sat down on the stool to Modo's left. "Don't do this to yourself, bro." 

"Go away. Shut up and go away. You got yer family back." 

"There'll be other girls, Modo." Vinnie submitted from the right. 

Before Throttle could react, the grey-furred mouse slammed the bottle of whiskey on the bar, swiveled around on the stool, grabbed a metal fistful of dress shirt and tuxedo jacket, and lifted the younger white mouse into the air as he stood up. "What girl wants a half-metal freak?" He shook Vinnie as the white mouse tried to pry the metal fingers free. "And what girls are hangin around for me to date, huh?" 

Throttle grabbed hold of Modo's right forearm, mainly to keep him from popping out his arm cannon. "Let him go, Big Fella. You'd feel really bad if you hurt him." 

"Nah, I wouldn't." 

"Yeah, you would. You know Vinnie can't help it when he opens his mouth and something stupid comes out." Vinnie--wearing an indignant expression--opened his mouth but shut it with a glare from Throttle. "Come on, put him down." 

Modo finally released Vinnie and grabbed the bottle off the bar, draining it. "I don't wanna 'nother girl. I want Stella." He sat down heavily on the stool and signaled the bartender for service. "I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Stella." 

The bartender, at a subtle nod from Throttle, set another bottle of whiskey in front of the grey mouse. Modo opened it and downed most of it in three large gulps. "She was so beautiful and so smart. And she loved me." He set his head down on the bar and a sob escaped from him. "She loved me and I threw her away." 

"Don't do this to yourself, Modo." Vinnie kept his distance. 

But Modo wasn't paying any attention to him. "I can't even beat up stinkfish for her. She just got sick." 

"If the stinkfish hadn't made things so bad on Mars, you and Stella would've made up," Throttle pointed out. _Probably would've had a dozen kids by now. Things never work out like they should._ "Come on, bro. Let's go back upstairs." 

"You're not my mama. If I wanna get drunk, you can't stop me. And you ain't got any room to talk, Throttle." 

Throttle winced internally. _Don't bring that mess with Carbine up. You think I'm proud of what she reduced me to? Having to get drunk off my ass to get civil again and having to ask Charley for something I had no right to ask for?_ He took a deep breath. _He doesn't mean anything. He's hurtin, just lashing out._ "There ain't enough liquor onboard to get you drunk. Besides, you know Stella wouldn't want you doing this to yourself." 

The large grey mouse slumped into himself. "I should've married her. I should've told her how much I love her." Tears squeezed out of his remaining eye. 

"She knew, Big Fella. She knew. Come on, let's go back upstairs." The tan mouse cautiously helped him to his feet. 

Modo shook his head as he leaned on the slightly smaller mouse. "I don't want Charley seein me like this." 

"It's cool, bro. I'll run interference." Vinnie left the bar in a white blur, leaving Throttle and Modo to stumble their way back. 

* * *

Charley refused to pace. It never helped her think and it was a waste of energy. She curled up on one end of couch with a blanket wrapped around her and found her thoughts divided between two of her best friends. 

The quavering voice of the grey mouse telling her, "She's just the girl I probably would've married. But we had a big fight, then things got really bad with the Plutarkians." 

The tan mouse's gentle fingers touching her cheek. "Did I tell you that you looked beautiful tonight?" 

Modo's voice continuing. "Throttle, Vinnie, and me decided to join the Freedom Fighters. Stella got on board a refugee ship." 

Throttle smiling at her, still holding her hand from the dance. "Want me to get 'em to play it again?" 

"The Plutarkians destroyed the ship. It's been a long time, Charley-ma'am. But I ain't over her yet." 

Throttle pressing her tight against his chest, protecting her from the laser bolts, as they ducked behind his bike. 

The picture in Roddie's office of the younger Modo with his arm around the shoulders of a teenage girl mouse and twining his tail with hers. 

Throttle's tail wrapping around her waist, keeping her hips pressed tight against his. Her legs around those bare furry hips and clasping him between them. His arms catching her, supporting her as her back arched and he kissed and nibbled her bare breasts. 

The main door burst open, propelled by the one mouse not in her thoughts. "Modo's okay, Charley-girl. You need to go to bed so we can get him in here." Vinnie bounded over to the couch and pulled her off of it. 

"What?" She succeeded in stopping him from dragging her and the blanket across the room to her bedroom door. 

"It's a macho, he-mouse thing. He don't want ya to see how broken up he is. Please Charley, he's already tried to put me through the ceiling once tonight." 

"Is he okay?" 

"Yeah, or he will be." He glanced nervously over his shoulder at the still open door. "He's been thinking she's dead for eight years. Now it's official. I really don't wanna be Limburger when we get back." 

"All right, I'm getting out of the way." 

"Good night, sweetheart." 

"Good night." She sighed as she closed her bedroom door. "We should just stay in Chicago," she muttered to herself. "Every time we leave the planet, someone starts having an emotional breakdown." 


	5. Chapter Five: Fender

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Five: Fender**

Charley peered into the other bedroom the next morning. Each of the beds contained a giant snoring mouse. Vinnie was about to fall out of his. Modo was curled up in a blanket-draped ball. Throttle lay on his stomach, face buried in his pillow, and the blankets draped over his ass and legs. She smiled and quietly shut the door. 

Room service sent breakfast up through a dumbwaiter installed near the table. She had ordered enough for all four of them, but they were still unconscious after she finished eating. She found some notepaper and quickly jotted down her plans. 

    Good morning, you lazy biker bums!   

    I went down to check on the bikes and to explore a bit. It's not a big city inside this ship, so I'm sure you guys can find me when and if you wake up. Maybe we'll meet up for lunch. See you guys later.   

    Charley 

She left their suite humming to herself. The song died in her throat when she saw a mouse painting over the laser burns on the hall wall. _I forgot. Have I gotten that used to getting shot at, bombs exploding nearby, goons manhandling me?_ She could barely remember when the only fear she had was getting her customers to pay up and making her mortgage payments on time. 

She got into the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. _Okay, I won't go exploring alone. I'll check the bikes out, then go back and see if I can wake up those furballs._

* * *

The bikes were still waiting in the parking garage next door to the building they were staying in. Apparently, it was the only parking garage in Olympian City. The taxi-like transports were leaving as she arrived. 

A quick check of the essential systems showed that the trip through the transport booth hadn't hurt the bikes any. Charley wiped her hands on an old bandanna as she stood up. _That's good. Cause if I know my guys, they're gonna want to transport in the middle of Limburger's Tower with guns blazing._

She was still grinning when a male voice spoke up behind her. "Removing contraband, human?" 

Charley whirled around. The mouse that Tala had been so angry with last night stood behind her. He was as tall as she was, short for a Martian mouse. The fur on his right ear and surrounding his right eye was black. The hands extending from the sleeves of his red and black military-like uniform were black too. The rest of his visible fur was white. "Contraband?" she echoed. 

"Items detrimental to ship's safety. Those motorcycles were never checked by Internal Security for contraband. Which, of course, was probably your plan." Colonel Exhaust stepped closer to Modo's bike. The bike beeped angrily at him and backed up. 

"I don't know what you're trying to imply. We didn't plan on ending up here." 

"A happy coincidence, then? I don't believe that. Perhaps the Captain feels that she is above Internal Security regulations." 

Charley stepped back and felt Throttle's bike behind her legs. "We weren't told about any Internal Security regulations." 

"Of course not." The intense, middle-aged mouse stepped closer. "You aliens are going to stick together to undermine what's left of our society. But I'm not going to let you. I'm going to stop you, all of you. The _Fury_ is all that's left of Mars as it was and I will protect it from the likes of you!" 

She stared into his narrowed red-pupil eyes, and her muscles clenched. He stepped closer and she stepped back. 

Throttle's bike beeped and whirled behind her. It sidled up to her, cannons popped out and trained on Colonel Exhaust. Modo and Vinnie's bikes flanked him, cannons out also. 

"Looks like you're outgunned, Colonel." Tala's sharp ironic voice echoed inside the parking garage. "Maybe you should find someone else to harass." 

The black and white mouse backed away slowly from Charley. "Those motorcycles are very armed for civilian transportation." 

The blonde human woman dressed in faded black jeans and a maroon blouse stepped up behind him. "They're Freedom Fighters, not civilians. I'm surprised, Colonel. You usually do your homework better than that." 

Exhaust's eyes had lost their anger. They coolly swept over the mechanic, analyzing her from the top of her red-brown hair to the toes of her scuffed-up cowboy boots. "I wasn't aware that humans were enlisting." 

"The Plutarkians are trying to buy up Earth now. You really don't expect Terrans to sit back and let them?" 

"I expect Internal Security regulations to be followed on board the _Fury_. Dr. Fender will examine those motorcycles within the next two hours, or the lot of you will be thrown into the brig. No matter who your relations are!" He whirled around and marched stiffly from the parking garage. 

Charley let out the air she hadn't realized she was holding as she supported herself against the handlebars of Throttle's bike. "I never thought I'd be this glad to see you. What is that guy's damage?" 

"He doesn't like aliens. Vinnie didn't tell you?" 

"No." 

Tala rolled her blue eyes with a sigh. "Where are the mouse scouts?" 

"I left them upstairs, still asleep. They had a rough night. First Throttle getting shot and Modo having some kind of breakdown." 

"That's not an excuse. Vinnie could have dropped a hint that you shouldn't go out in public without armed escort. Come on, let's go give the ego maniac a piece of my mind." 

Charley led her up to their fifth floor rooms, noting that Tala's gun was strapped around her waist. They could hear Vinnie's panicked voice barreling down the hall. 

"But we didn't tell her about Exhaust, Throttle! I told you after she went to take a bath. And then we had to deal with Modo. Man, they could be hurtin Charley right now and we wouldn't know it!" The white mouse threw open the door just as Charley and Tala reached it. His panicked, worried expression dissolved into relief. "Charley-girl! Are you okay?" 

"She's fine, no thanks to you." Tala pushed her way inside by poking her finger into the center of Vinnie's bare chest and he stepped back with each poke. "Didn't it occur to you when I told you about a xenophobic bigot in charge of Security that you should tell the alien of your group about him?" She crossed her arms over chest and glared. 

Vinnie grinned lopsidedly and shrugged. "Oops?" 

Throttle moved his head slightly as he looked Charley over and visibly relaxed. "You okay, babe?" 

"Yeah, but Colonel Exhaust didn't make friends with your bikes." 

"What happened, Charley-ma'am?" Modo asked from the doorway to their bedroom. 

"He was convinced we had smuggled contraband onboard and he was really upset that we hadn't followed regulations. He wants your bikes checked over sometime in the next two hours or he's going to throw us into the brig." 

"You're leaving out the part where it looked like he was going to physically attack you and the bikes jumped to your defense." Tala pointed out. 

"And you just happened to be there?" Throttle asked. "Or were you coming by to discuss your fee to get us back home?" 

"I was following Exhaust. And I'll transport you guys for free, just to ruin Limburger's day." 

"Great." Throttle turned to Charley. "You shouldn't have left alone. Not with somebody using us for target practice." 

"That did occur to me. I was just going to check out the bikes and come back here, but Exhaust showed up first." That came out angrier than Charley intended. 

"I ain't followin no orders from him," Vinnie scowled. "Roddie didn't say anything about our bikes needin inspectin." 

Tala's sharp blue eyes darted from Throttle to Charley before turning to Vinnie. "It is a regulation and she probably forgot about it. Besides, Fender's a nice guy and he'll appreciate a look at your bikes." 

"If he's so nice, why is he working for Exhaust?" Charley asked. 

"He doesn't." Tala explained, turning her attention from the white mouse to the other human woman. "There's _Ship's Engineering_ and then there's _Everything Else_. Your bikes fall under _Everything Else_ and Fender's in charge of it. I trust him with my ride." She frowned at their suspicious faces. "Do you guys wanna give Exhaust an excuse to throw you into the brig?" 

Throttle sighed and rubbed his eyes under his field specs. "Come on, bros. We always obey the laws." 

Modo muttered under his breath as he turned back to the bedroom to find his boots. 

Vinnie slipped his bandoleers over his head and across his chest and slumped down in a chair at the small table, unenthusiastically shoving food into his mouth. "This ain't what I had planned for today." 

Tala draped herself in the chair next to him. "Cheer up, it won't take too long." She snatched some food off his plate. 

"Hey! That's mine; get your own!" 

"You snooze, you lose, Mouse Scout. Now what's this about Throttle getting shot?" 

The tan mouse gave Charley a why-did-you-let-that-slip look. She shrugged helplessly. "Someone took a couple of pot shots at me and Charley last night. One of 'em hit me. No big deal. Except that the shooter got away." 

"Sloppy." 

"I didn't lose him on purpose." Throttle's voice was edged. 

"Are there any more hoops Exhaust wants us to jump after our bikes are okayed?" Vinnie asked quickly. 

"That's the only thing he mentioned," Charley answered. 

"Good, then me and you are gonna go dancin, Tala." 

"We are?" The blonde woman looked at him quizzically. 

"You didn't dance with me last night. So I found a club that's a bit more on the wild side." The white mouse shoved his empty plate away and grinned at her cockily. "You're not afraid to go dancin with me, are ya?" 

"If you can move your ass as fast as you move your bike, it could be interesting." 

"Can we get this over with?" Modo growled as he stomped into the living room. 

Tala turned and looked like she was about to utter a snide comment. Charley jumped in quickly. "Exhaust didn't say where to find Dr. Fender. Tala, do you know where we have to go?" 

"Yeah, I'll be your guide to the mad mechanic's playground." 

* * *

Throttle offered Charley a ride on his bike and she slid on behind him. "Good defuse," he told her in a low voice as they left the parking garage. 

"Thanks. Do you think Vinnie will remember to tell her to step lightly around Modo?" 

"After the scare he got last night, probably. But you might want to drop her a warning. At least, suggest removing the flirting from Big Fella's presence." Her touch--just hanging on--sent an electric current through his body. He swallowed hard and tried to ignore it. "Just a little too painful right now." 

"If I can get her alone again, I will." 

Throttle took a deep breath. "I wasn't trying to say you couldn't take care of yourself. I . . . we were just worried." 

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. Delayed reaction, I guess. But giving me a warning last night about Exhaust would've been better." 

"Yeah, it would have." 

She didn't respond to that and Throttle concentrated on ignoring his pounding heart and following Tala's bike. The human woman on the bright blue Martian racer with the white lightening bolt painted down its crankcase led them around the park to a five-story building. Tala stopped her bike and waved her arm at the partially opened garage door. "Fender's fun house." 

"Miss Tala! Miss Tala!" A young mouse girl ran toward them from a group of kids inside the park. 

"Excuse me." She hopped off her bike and headed toward the girl. She looked back over her shoulder. "Go on in, Fender never leaves." 

Throttle turned to his bros. "What is that about?" 

"Maybe she baby-sits, too." Modo got off his bike and pushed the garage door up high enough for them to pass underneath. "Can we get this over with?" 

"Sure, Big Fella." Throttle eased his bike inside, and he and Charley dismounted. Modo and Vinnie followed them in. 

The cavernous two-story room took up the length and width of the entire building; steel girders holding the building together lacked the interior stone-finished walls that would divide the space into smaller rooms. The room would have been enormous except for the large, odd-looking mechanical devices strewn haphazardly across the floor and dangling from the girders. Some pieces looked Plutarkian, some Martian, and still others reminded Throttle of some of the various planets that he and his bros had traveled to trying to get back to Mars. The only clear spot was about six feet in front of the garage door where they now stood with their bikes. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?" 

A resounding crash echoed from somewhere in the back, behind piles of machinery. "Sand blasted! Go away!" 

"Colonel Exhaust said we had to get our bikes checked by a Dr. Fender." 

The new crash sent large mechanical devices sliding and falling into the clear space. Charley jumped back, "Whoa!" 

"I don't care if Ares himself sent you! I'm busy! I have fifteen priority projects ahead of everything else that must be done. Go away!" 

Vinnie smirked. "If Tala calls this guy nice, I'd hate to meet anyone she calls mean." 

"Look, Exhaust threatened throwing us in the brig if the bikes weren't checked out. We only have two hours." Throttle used his best find-a-compromise tone. "The sooner its done, the sooner we'll get out of here." 

An explosion replied to his suggestion, jarring more equipment out of place. Modo yanked Charley out of the path of something swinging down like a pendulum from a girder. Throttle hit the floor and rolled out of its way. The bikes beeped and rolled back, as close to the garage door as they could get without abandoning their riders. 

"Son of a rat!" The disembodied voice boomed out of the back with the smoke. More metal hit the floor; the ringing sound dulled slightly by falling on stone. An intercom buzz drifted to them. "Maintenance!" 

"Maintenance here. What's the matter, Fender? Blew yourself up again?" 

"Spare me your philistine humor and send someone here immediately!" 

"We're shorthanded. How bad is it?" 

"Not ship threatening. But it must be repaired today!" 

"All right, all right. Keep your lab coat on. I'll get someone there as soon as I can. Maintenance out." 

"It sounds like you've got time to deal with us." Charley said in the direction of the smoke and the voice. The smoke was already dissipating; a good indication that what had caused it was put out. 

"Time to deal with you?" The voice's owner jumped out from behind a large piece of machinery next to Throttle. He was an older tan-grey mouse with a pair of sooty and smudged glasses perched on his snout. His dark blue jumpsuit with large bulging pockets sewn into every spot within reach of his hands was also sooty. "If it hadn't been for you, it wouldn't have exploded!" 

"You're gonna give yourself another stroke if you keep yellin like that." Tala left her bike parked outside the building and walked inside. "Besides you're scaring the kiddies. Some of them aren't used to displays of mock anger yet." 

The mouse shook with suppressed rage as he gestured at the Biker Mice and Charley. "Do they belong to you?" 

"Bad choice of words, Fender. Try again." 

"Colonel Exhaust wants our bikes checked out," Throttle repeated again with as much patience as he could muster. "He said you had to do it or we would get arrested." 

"And I should care, why?" 

"Cause they have the bad luck of being related to Captain Roddie." Tala pushed a smaller bit of equipment off of a larger, wider, box-shaped piece of machinery and perched on top of it. "You just have to glance over their bikes to pacify the control-freak. No repair work. A nice change of pace." 

Fender snorted as he pulled off his glasses, cleaning them with a bandanna pulled from a pocket. "I wish for once that someone on this ship would consider that I have my own projects to work on." His anger was gone by the time he replaced his glasses. "Now, what do we have here?" He stepped up to Modo's bike. 

"That's my ride." The larger grey mouse rumbled. 

Fender blinked up at him. "Yes, of course. Funny, you look familiar. Oh well, shall we get started?" 

* * *

Roddie dressed in her favorite gold shirt and black pants with the fiery red and gold design down the seams had added a red tank top to the ensemble--there was only so much leering she could take. She entered Dr. Fender's building, stopping just inside the garage door. The mouse scientist was running his hands along Vinnie's red racer under everyone's watchful eyes. "Remarkable work. You really have a gift." 

"Charley's the best wrenchjockey in the solar system." Throttle leaned against his bike. 

Charley sat on a piece of machinery next to Vinnie. Tala sat on the white mouse's other side. The chestnut-haired human looked embarrassed. "Best in Chi-town definitely. But I'm not that good." 

"Don't sell yourself short, sweetheart. We've been around the block a couple of times. You're definitely the best." 

Modo saw Roddie standing in the garage door. He walked up to her, pushing his bike and wearing the most painfully determined expression. Lance's voice replayed in her mind like an unbreakable audio loop. She pushed his counsel away with a firm _I can't. I promised. She wanted him safe,_ to herself. 

"Where?" was all the grey mouse could get out. 

It was all he needed to. She felt tears gather behind her eyelids. "The Hall of Memories." She quickly gave him directions. Li'l Hoss's headlight flashed as it gathered the information. 

"Big Fella?" Throttle had eased off his bike. 

"It's something I gotta do alone, bro." Modo mounted his bike and took off. 

His field specs couldn't hide her big bro-cuz's concern. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked him. 

The tan mouse shrugged. "He got over it once. He just needs some time and space. We got catchin up to do." 

"That's why I'm here. Come on, a walk in the park. If you don't mind being a pedestrian for a while." 

"I don't mind but my bike hasn't been looked at yet." 

"I'll watch it," Charley offered. "Vinnie and Tala got plans." 

"Thanks, Charley-girl." 

Roddie smiled at the human as she grabbed Throttle's arm and pulled him out of Fender's combination garage and lab. 


	6. Chapter Six: Realizations

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Six: Realizations**

Fender stood up beside the red racer and popped his back. "Done with this one. I'm not sure what Exhaust is expecting me to find." 

"Who cares?" Vinnie jumped down onto the floor. He wrapped his tail around Tala's waist and picked her up off her seat. Charley turned her head quickly. Tala's surprised expression was priceless, but laughing at it probably wasn't a good idea. "We got a date, Doll-face," Vinnie continued. 

"Is it supposed to start at the hospital?" Tala asked in a calm voice. 

"Hospital?" 

"Cause that's where I'm going to send you, if you don't put me down." 

He pouted as he set her on her feet. "I figured you didn't mind the tail." 

"That depends on where you put it. And that wasn't an invitation!" 

"Killjoy. Do you know how many ladies would die to be in your position?" 

"Well, death does seem to be the only way to get left alone by you." Tala smirked as his face grew darker. "You make it way too easy, Mouse Scout." She started walking toward the garage door and her bike parked on the street outside. "Are we going? I've never done the club scene before." 

Charley watched the white mouse shake himself out of contemplation of Tala's ass as the blonde human walked out the garage door. "Yeah, yeah, we're going." He jumped onto his bike. Fender scrambled back as Vinnie roared out. 

Fender turned to Charley. "Do all their dates begin in that fashion?" 

"Apparently." 

He sighed. "Youth is wasted on the young and stupid. I have to get something from the back. I'll return in a moment." He disappeared behind the piles of junk. 

Charley sighed. "I get left behind no matter where we go." 

"Hello? Somebody called for Maintenance?" The voice echoed from the garage door, just out of Charley's line of vision. 

"Dr. Fender did." 

The maintenance child entered the cleared space inside the room. "I figured Roddie and her friends were probably here. Wow, nice bike." He set down his toolbox and pushed his cap back to get a better look at Throttle's black and chrome bike. 

She tried to place the familiar mouse child. His ears and antennae put him a little over four feet tall. His thick grey hair was held back by the faded black cloth cap he wore. _The picture in Roddie's office._ He was a few years older and a whole lot bigger, but it was the same child. "You just missed them." 

"Sand blasted. I was hopin to see Mr. Modo." He stuck his hands into the pockets of his coveralls, then pulled them back out. He held one out for her to shake as he walked over. "Sorry, I'm Sparks." 

"Charley Davidson. Aren't you a little young to be working?" 

He rolled his red eyes. "Cheese, that's only the fifth time I've heard **that** today. When are you adults gonna start judgin by ability rather than appearance? On the other hand, it comes in handy. Where did Mr. Modo go?" 

"Someplace called the Hall of Memories." 

Sparks grew solemn. "He's lost family too? Dumb question, who hasn't. You're not a childhood buddy of Roddie's though." 

"Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie crash-landed on Earth about three years ago and met me there. I'm here with them." Charley smiled at him. His grey bangs were already working their way out from under his cap and into his eyes. 

Fender returned from the back carrying some kind of scanning device. "Sparks, what are you doing here?" 

"Maintenance sent me, Doc. Whatcha bust this time?" 

"Does the Captain know you're working for Maintenance?" 

Sparks's eyes rolled again. "Who do ya think assigned me to them? Now, I don't have all day." 

"Fine, fine. This way." The mouse scientist pushed his glasses back up his snout as he turned to Charley. "I will get to his bike before he returns." 

"Whatever." Charley shrugged, wondering idly why the kid wanted to see Modo. 

* * *

"I like Charley." Roddie admitted as she led Throttle across the street to the park. 

"Charley's the best." 

"The best at what?" 

He looked down into her mischievous expression. "At everything she does. Now what's the deal with this Colonel Exhaust?" 

"You never were very subtle about changing the subject. Exhaust is my problem and I'll handle him." 

"Look, I'm not trying to pull the big bro act and fix all your problems." He ignored her disbelieving snort. "We haven't known Tala long, but she doesn't seem like the type to recommend shooting in the back. She seems to like her fights more face-to-face. Unless you specified it as part of a job. And he threatened Charley. I just wanna know what's going on, and if we can help. Come on, Roddie." 

She sighed. "I really don't know if you can help, other than by leaving. He got the job of being in charge of Internal Security when his former commander died under suspicious circumstances. It could've been an accident or it could've been murder. But the guy is just nuts. He thinks that if Mars had had a closed door policy for aliens, the Plutarkians wouldn't have gotten their greedy fins on it." 

Throttle snorted. "Everyone in Chi-town is convinced Limburger's human. Doesn't he realize they could have pulled the same stunt on Mars?" 

"I don't think the logic of the situation matters much to him. And he lets his hatred of Plutarkians spill over to other species. So I'm Number One on his most hated list. Nice to feel wanted." 

"Why not just get him out of there? Put someone in charge of Internal Security that you can trust." 

"I can't. The previous Captain and the refugees wrote out laws for Olympian City and the _Fury_. Gives the civies a chance to return to normal life; keeps the ship running smoothly so the Captain doesn't have to oversee everything. But until Exhaust crosses the line and breaks those laws or shows he's unfit for duty, I can't remove him from his post. And if you macho mice try to whip his tail for me, you're just going to get yourselves into trouble. You're already on his black list because you're related to me and because of Charley." 

"You know how much I hate abandoning anyone." 

"Would you like it better if I ordered you off the ship? You're not abandoning me; your fight is back on Earth." 

Throttle sat down on a park bench and gazed at the group of young children playing about ten feet away. "I get so tired of fighting sometimes. The action is great, but it feels like it's never gonna end." His shoulders slumped. "What's the point to it all if we spend our entire lives fighting?" 

Roddie sat down beside him, snaking her arm around his torso. "You have to carve a life for yourself out of this chaos called reality, big bro-cuz. If you sacrifice your happiness for the sake of winning, winning wasn't worth it." 

"But Mars and Earth would be safe." 

"We're not fighting for hunks of rock, Throttle. We fight to protect them." She gestured to the playing children. "Our future. Some of those kids have never known the horrors of war. I want them same for the children of our clan. Don't you?" 

"Of course, but." He sighed. "You have to find the right person before you can start a family." 

"She might be closer than you think." 

"Not that it's any of your business, but she just wants to be friends." 

The black mouse barked a short laugh. "Are all males blind when it comes to romance?" She mentally kicked herself as she felt Throttle stiffen. "I'm sorry. Bad choice of words for me and my big mouth." 

"It's all right." He reached around her head and tweaked the rim of her left ear. 

"Do they hurt?" Her voice was small as she leaned the back of her head against his arm. 

"Not physically." 

"Do they work? Without the field specs, I mean." 

Throttle sighed, "Most of the time now. I keep these handy just in case." He tapped the field specs black frame. "Besides, you know I've always liked this look." 

"The shades, the leather, and the bike; the ultimate in cool." Roddie sighed, "But I can't help feeling that if I had been with you, you guys wouldn't have gotten hurt." 

"Even you can't stop the inevitable." 

"Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying." She squeezed him slightly. "I have to get back to the bridge. You should take Charley to lunch." 

"Would you stop with the matchmaking!" 

"But I'm so good at it. Besides, Modo and Vinnie are off doing their own things. Do you really think they'll remember to feed her?" 

"You don't want me interferin in your ship's business and I don't want you interferin in my love life." 

Roddie sighed. "You're right. It really is none of my business. Maybe Vinnie and Modo haven't noticed yet, but I can tell that the situation between you and Charley is driving you crazy. You have to do something about it before you snap." 

"You're not tellin me anything I hadn't already figured out." 

"I just want you to be happy." 

"Are you happy, little sis-cuz?" 

"I've got a great man, a wonderful career, a kid raising hell in school, and I've got you guys back. Life can't get any better." She gave him another squeeze and got up from the bench. "Take her to the Astro Café. The food is the best in Olympian City." And she dashed toward the elevator to the bridge before he could comment. 

* * *

Modo dismounted and entered the Hall of Memories, a long hall with an elevator at the other end to the upper floors of the building. Stone plaques covered the lengthwise walls. Names, dates of birth, dates of death were carved into the reddish-grey stones in Martian script with a small hologram projector to show a picture of the deceased. He leaned against the wall with his flesh hand, suddenly unable to do anything else. 

His bike trailed inside the building, beeping softly with concern. 

"You're right, darlin. I have to see her one last time." He straightened and began searching through the names. 

He had almost reached the end of the hall and thought he needed to take the elevator to the next floor when he spotted her name. A shaky finger activated the hologram projector. The same beautiful face, just a little older. The same gentle smile, just a little sadder. 

He couldn't hold it in any longer. He slumped next to the plaque and shut his eye, allowing himself to relive memories he had kept suppressed for so long. Tears squeezed out of his eye. "Stella. Oh, Stella. It should've been me to go first. Not you. Never you." 

His bike beeped louder with concern. Modo ignored it. It went back through its data banks, trying to find something associated with the name. A song was all it found. It began to play it over the radio speaker.  
  
**_Heaven can wait  
And a band of angels wrapped up in my heart  
Will take me through the lonely night  
Through the cold of the day  
And I know  
I know  
Heaven can wait  
And all the gods come down here just to sing for me  
And the melody's gonna make me fly  
Without pain  
Without fear_**

* * *

Throttle returned to Dr. Fender's lab. Charley was still sitting on the piece of machinery. "He just got finished looking your bike over and you just missed meeting Sparks," she informed him. 

"Who's Sparks?" 

"The kid Roddie has adopted or something. He's already made friends with Modo." 

"He's got a way with kids. Maybe Sparks can cheer him up. Do you wanna get some lunch?" 

"Starving." She jumped down to the floor. "Let's go." 

* * *

"The situation is accelerating." Colonel Exhaust tossed the reports onto his desk as he paced past it. "Soon it will be beyond all control. We can no longer allow the _Fury_ to remain threatened by alien agendas. Give Ruger his orders and be sure to round up the rest of the aliens and sympathizers." 

His aide saluted and left the office. 

* * *

Throttle felt Charley's suspicious glance as they waited to be seated. The place was a little classier than the eating joints they frequented in Chicago. "What? Roddie said this place was the best in Olympian City." _And if she's setting me up for something, she'll regret it._ The maître'd stepped up to them. "Table for two," Throttle told him. 

"Certainly, sir," the maître'd answered blandly. He led them to a one-bench booth that wasn't as long as its Earth counterparts. The side with the bench had two place settings right next to each other. "A waiter will be with you shortly." 

Charley turned to Throttle with a confused expression as the maître'd stalked off. "This doesn't look like a table for two." 

"It's an old Martian custom. When you take a girl out to dinner, you're expected to sit close together." He felt his face growing hot under his fur and he looked down at the floor. "I forgot about it; I really did!" 

"Is this date?" She asked softly, triggering his heart to beat faster. He looked up. Her face was sincere but her green eyes looked frighteningly hopeful. "Is it?" 

Yeah, sure, why not? Friends make dates and go out. But that's not the kind of date this table is for. And it's not the kind of date I want. "What do you . . .." He tried again. "Charley, I . . .." _Damnit! Spit something out!_ "Do you want to be on a date with me?" 

Charley smiled and slipped into the booth. "Sit down, people are startin to look." 

He quickly sat down. "If you're trying to confuse me, Charley-girl, it's workin." 

"Okay. Yes, I want to be on a date with you. What's wrong with just asking me out?" 

"All that stuff you said last week about just being friends? That what happened was just a one-night fluke. Somethin we both needed but we didn't have anyone else to turn to. I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. Why did you say all that stuff?" 

"I thought it was what you wanted to hear. You kept acting like we had done something wrong when we hadn't. What else could I've told you?" 

The waiter arrived. "Two of the special and two root beers." The tan mouse said quickly, waved him off, and turned back to Charley. "How 'bout tellin me the truth? How do you feel and what do you want between us?" 

"Throttle, no. You're still getting over . . . I don't want to make things harder for you." 

He laid two fingers across her protesting lips and a jolt shot from them up his arm. She felt it too; he could tell by her expression. "Why don'tcha just tell me and let me decide if I can handle it? I am a big boy." She still hesitated, and he pulled off his field specs. "Please, Charley. Tell me." 

She looked into his red eyes. "I want to be with you. Be a couple, go steady, whatever." She looked away. "But I know it's too soon after Carbine; you don't want to get hurt again; you don't feel the same way . . .." 

He gently turned her face back to gaze into her green eyes. "Charley, I want that too." And he pulled her into a kiss before she could protest. 

Not that she did protest. Her hands and arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed back with more force than he had initiated with. So he laced his fingers into her chestnut hair and returned the kiss with equal intensity. 

The waiter's polite coughing finally broke them apart. He set down two steaming bowls of brick-red liquid with green chunks floating in it and two mugs of root beer in front of them and left. 

Charley grabbed hold of his arm, alarmed by a new thought. "Throttle, I . . . I don't want to be another rebound girl." 

"You're not." He smiled as he took hold of her hand. "What was between me and Carbine was over a long time before I realized it. And I've been fallin for you for three years now. I love you, Charlene Davidson. I should've told you that last week." 

"I love you too. And it doesn't matter now." She broke off the kiss with a giggle. "How are Vinnie and Modo gonna react to us?" 

"Two weeks worth of teasing in the span of twenty-four hours. And then I'll get a separate lecture from both of them on how I better not hurt you 'cause bro or no, they'll still pound me." 

"Just as long as they aren't upset. So what happens now? I mean, how fast do we go? I don't think either one of us is ready for the move-in stage." 

"Nah, not yet. Let's just take things slow. True romance takes time." 

Charley smiled and Throttle felt his insides flip-flop. "You know just what to say, you smooth talker. One last question, what did you order?" She pointed at the bowl. 

"Jundland stew." She picked up a spoonful. "Be careful . . .." She dropped the spoon and grabbed her root beer. "It's spicy." 

* * *

Roddie felt Throttle's ecstasy explode in her own mind as she entered the elevator to the bridge from the floor of the crew's mess hall. "I told you so, big bro-cuz. You oughtta trust my calls." 

She hummed to herself as she stepped off the elevator and onto the bridge. "All right, mice. What's going on in that great big cosmos?" 

Clutch grinned as he turned from the navigation station. "Maybe you should have family visits more often." 

"What are you saying, Commander? I'm not usually a joy to work with?" She joined the coppery-red-furred mouse at the terminal for navigation. "Ruger, do you have the information on the Plutarkian supply route past Jupiter?" 

"No, I don't, Captain." Something in the grey mouse's tone caused both commanding officers to turn around. 

Clutch reacted first, throwing himself on top of Roddie as the pistol in Ruger's hand fired. The laser bolt hit the male mouse in the side and his momentum sent both of their bodies to the floor. 

Roddie found herself pinned underneath her second-in-command, but her arms were free. Clutch was still breathing, but blood was leaking from him faster than air into a vacuum. She tore a hole in her shirtsleeve with her teeth and yanked it off. She stuffed the material into Clutch's wound. "Stay with me, Commander." She ignored the sounds of other shots and screams from her crew. "Stay with me. Axle will never forgive me if anything happens to you." 

Ruger's face appeared between hers and the ceiling. He aimed the laser pistol down at her in malicious triumph. "Good, I missed you. The Colonel has special plans for you, you alien bitch." 


	7. Chapter Seven: Mutiny

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Seven: Mutiny**

The club Vinnie had found was popular with the teenage and young adults of the _Fury_ judging by the size of the crowd. Tala recognized the music as techno with an emphasis on producing a good beat. Vinnie shrugged and yelled into her ear, "Ain't heavy metal but it'll do," and dragged her through the swarm of bodies to the approximate center of the dance floor. 

Tala was just glad that no specialized dance moves were required--other than keeping her feet out of harm's way that came in the form of the energetic white-furred mouse dancing in front of, beside, behind, in front of her. _This isn't so bad. And I was worried he was up to something._

Vinnie's tail wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air. His wild laughter floated over the music and he spun her like a top above his head. She landed in his arms. Nearby dancers applauded the move. "Oh yeah, turn you every which way but lose and make you look as good as me too!" 

"Oh really?" She stiffly pushed herself out of his grip. "I might be less inclined to shoot you if you would warn me first!" 

"Come on, babe. They loved it!" 

"I'm not here to inflate your ego. If I wanted to get tossed into the air by some muscle-bound thrill-seeker, I'd go back to the galdiating rings." 

He grabbed her hands and twirled her around with the music. "You have gotta loosen up if you wanna have fun. Stop fightin and enjoy what you feel." 

She pressed closer to him so he could hear. "If I stop fighting, you win." 

His white hands wrapped in fingerless black gloves grabbed hold of her head and combed into her short blonde hair. "This is a date, Doll-face, not a race. We're both supposed to have a good time." 

"This is never going to work. You're a hot-headed idealist!" The beat of the music slowed and softened. Tala wrapped her arms around his neck. 

"You're a hard-bitten mercenary!" Vinnie's fingers trailed out of her hair and down her back until his arms wrapped around her. 

"You think with your trigger finger." She tilted her face up. 

He leaned down slightly. "So do you." 

Their lips brushed together and met. His grip tightened but his hands didn't roam. She relaxed into him, pressing all parts of her body against his. She pulled her hands from around his neck, brushing against the soft, velvet-like fur on his shoulders and pecs. 

He pulled back from the kiss with a sharp intake of breath. "AOOOOW," he said under his breath. "Light my fire, Tala. Burn me up." 

Her heart pounded. She could feel his beating under her tingling palms. "Vinnie." 

"Shush." His lips brushed against hers quickly and his hands moved down her back, traced the waistband of her jeans, and grabbed hold of her hips. He pulled her into a sway with his hips and in time with the seductive beat of the music. 

She let her hands trace down the sides of his torso. Her fingernails raked lightly through his white fur and stopped at his waist. She could feel his chest expand and contract quickly. Her own breathing was just as quick. 

Two hands gripped her arms above her elbows and yanked her away from the white mouse. Two Internal Security officers pointed rifles into Vinnie's back. "Get your own date," he growled at them. 

"You're under arrest, alien." The Internal Security officer holding her arms announced. "You too." He gestured his head in Vinnie's direction. 

"Are all our dates going to end with us in custody?" Tala cocked an eyebrow at the white-furred mouse. 

"Maybe we should try Chicago next." 

"Dinner, kick some goon ass, and dancing afterwards?" 

"Or a movie." 

The Internal Security officer shook her. "I'd be more worried about your immediate future." 

"Oh right. I forgot about you." Tala turned her head. Another rifle-toting officer was joining the group. The dancers had moved back, leaving a healthy space to work with. She flexed her knees and shifted one foot between the two belonging to the officer holding her. 

Vinnie grinned and slipped a flare from his bandoleers. 

The officer holding her saw Vinnie's movement. "Drop . . .." 

Tala jumped back. Her shoulders struck his chest and her foot kicked his knees. The officer yelped in pain--without completing his command--and fell back. Tala threw herself back with him. Her free foot kicked the rifle out of the just-reached-their-position officer's hands. 

Vinnie expanded the flare and ignited it against his leg. He dropped into a crouch and spun around. The flare cut through the rifles that had been pointed at his back as he swept the two officers off their feet with his tail. 

Tala landed on top of the officer's chest. His hands released her arms and she leaped to her feet. Her right fist shut the gaping jaw of the still-standing officer. The officer she landed on began to sit up. She pivoted, kicking him unconscious. She grabbed the handcuffs off their belts and cuffed them together back to back. She turned to Vinnie. 

The white mouse grabbed the two officers by their throats and smashed their heads together. He glanced back and handcuffed them like Tala had her pair. He stood up and dusted off his hands. 

"Righteous," a nearby teenager muttered in awe. 

Vinnie nodded his head to the quicker beat of the music the DJ had switched to during their scuffle. "It's easy to whip tail to this music. But then, it ain't real hard to whip their tails." 

"It's that mindless drone mentality. Interferes with fighting abilities." 

"Who are these guys?" 

"Internal Security officers. The ones under Colonel Exhaust's command." 

Vinnie frowned and pointed to the main doors. More uniformed mice poured into the club. "Looks like more wanna play with us." 

"We gotta get out of here now!" 

"Normally, I would disagree with that. But Modo and Throttle are probably having all the fun!" 

"Back way out's thataway." A teenage mouse pointed into the darkness of the club. 

Tala grabbed Vinnie's right wrist and pulled him through the parting crowd. They hit the metal fire escape door and ran into the access alley between buildings. 

The white mouse slammed on his foot brakes, grabbed hold of Tala's left wrist, and dragged her to the mouth of the alley. As they got closer, she could hear the sounds of struggling engines. 

An open-bed transport was parked on the street in front of the club. Vinnie's red racer was strapped down in its bed. The bike's wheels were locked with tangle springs. A group of Internal Security officers struggled with Tala's blue racer, trying to put the tangle-spring-trapped motorcycle on the transport too. 

Vinnie howled. "Sweetheart!" 

The officers turned and started shooting. "Famak!" Tala yanked him back as she slammed herself against the building for cover. She pulled her gun out and returned fire. "Shit, Vinnie! Haven't you ever heard of the element of surprise? Fire, Hot Stuff!" 

The bright blue bike beeped enthusiastically and popped its laser cannons out. It shot the transport twice before the driver started accelerating down the street. 

"My bike! Those sons of rats are stealin my bike!" Bolts from Vinnie's laser pistol hit no where near the rapidly-fleeing transport. 

"We'll get it back!" Her shots finally freed her bike of the tangle springs. It popped a wheelie and headed directly for the alley. Missiles fired from the rear scattered the Internal Security squad and Tala shot the survivors. 

Laser bolts hit the sides of the buildings from behind them. The mouse and human both turned. The officers had made it through the club. Vinnie growled and started firing. "Steal my bike, will ya!" 

Tala wrapped her left forearm with his tail and yanked it. He yelped as she started dragging him to her bike. "We're leaving! Now!" 

"All right, all right." He freed his tail and climbed on the bike behind her. He grabbed hold of her waist as she accelerated down the street. "Let's go get my bike." 

"Later." 

"Whatcha mean later!" 

"People are more important than equipment! If Exhaust sent his goons after us, he's probably sent them after every non-mouse on the ship." 

Vinnie took a couple of deep breaths. "Charley and Roddie. If that bastard's hurt 'em . . .." 

"He'll probably arrest them first, then hold mass executions or something." The bike reached the wall of the hold and turned left following it. "Which gives us time to plan." 

"Plan? I gotta plan. Grab Exhaust, whip his tail, and toss him out the nearest airlock." 

"All right, smart guy. What if Exhaust has Charley as a hostage?" 

Vinnie hesitated, struggling audibly to come up with something. His stammering and spluttering made her bite her bottom lip to hide a smile. He finally came out with a coherent thought. "Go with the wait 'n see plan, I guess." 

"Fine." Tala pushed her bike through the doors of an enormous stairwell and activated its flight mode. "But my wait 'n see plan has a little more offensive strategy than the usual." 

* * *

Sparks's shift ended once he got finished with Dr. Fender's lab. He shucked out of the coveralls and stuffed them into his toolbox with his cap as he rode the transport to the Hall of Memories. _I owe Mr. Modo for not givin me away to Roddie. And he didn't give me any crap about being too young to do anything. Not that I expect that to last. Adults always worry 'bout being a good example at the worst possible times._

The transport dropped him off at the somber building and promised to deliver his toolbox to his apartment building. Sparks knew this place well; it was the only place he could see his mother out from under Roddie's watchful eyes. She never came here unless she had to. But this was the first time he had heard anyone playing music inside.  
  
**_And I know that I've been released  
But I don't know to where  
And nobody's gonna tell me now  
And I don't really care  
No no no  
I got a taste of paradise  
That's all I really need to make me stay  
If I had it any sooner you know  
You know I never would have run away from my home  
  
Heaven can wait  
And all I got is time until the end of time  
I won't look back  
I won't look back  
Let the altars shine  
  
Heaven can wait  
Heaven can wait  
I won't look back  
I won't look back  
Let the altars shine  
Let the altars shine_**

The song playing over the purple bike's speakers ended. The large mouse slumped against the wall staring at a plaque didn't notice. 

Sparks just stared. He had never seen anyone bring a motorcycle into the Hall of Memories before. He had also never seen a grown-up so broken up before either. He wanted to know who could have meant so much, but part of him was afraid to know. It reminded him too much of the pain and confusion from five years ago. 

A heavy hand fell on his T-shirted shoulder and whirled him around. He stared up into the grinning face of an Internal Security officer. "Come on, kid. The Colonel has some questions for you." 

"He can see my lawyer!" Sparks aimed a kick at the officer's knee. 

The larger mouse pushed him down before it connected. Sparks landed painfully on his butt. The officer whipped his tail around and wrapped it around the boy's arms and torso. "You're coming now. The Colonel wants to make sure your guardian cooperates." 

"Let me go, you wrenchhead!" 

The officer's laugh ended when a metal hand grabbed the front of his uniform and lifted him into the air. "My grey-furred mama always said 'never pick on somebody littler than you. Especially if they have friends bigger than you.'" Modo shook him as his eye blazed red. "Let him go." 

The officer's tail unwrapped from around Sparks. The boy scrambled to his feet. "I'm okay," he said as he moved back. 

"All right." Modo turned his full attention to the officer. "Say nighty-night." 

"Nighty-night?" The officer tried to pull himself out of Modo's grasp. His left fist connected to the officer's face. "Oh! Nighty-night!" 

Modo dropped the unconscious mouse on the floor. "That's an Internal Security officer. Exhaust must be movin against Roddie!" Sparks started running for the door. 

The large grey hand on his shoulder stopped him. "She'll be okay. We gotta find Throttle and Vinnie so she'll have plenty of help." He set the kid on the purple bike and climbed on in front of him. "Hang on." 

Sparks wrapped his arms around the older mouse's waist as they accelerated out of the Hall of Memories, onto the street, and into laser fire. "Whoa! How popular are we today?" 

Modo wrapped his tail around Sparks's waist as he swerved to avoid a laser blast. "Every time we take a trip, it always ends up with someone shootin at us." 

"Maybe it's the universe's way of tellin ya to stay home." Sparks suggested as the laser cannons on the bike cleared the path. "Don't get me wrong; I'm glad you're here." _Really, really glad._ He added silently, feeling suddenly overwhelmed and frightened by the number of Internal Security officers shooting at the bike. He couldn't even fight one. 

"We're gonna have to add the asteroids to our list of heroic exploit locations." 

"Huh?" 

Modo chuckled. "Guess Roddie don't know those stories yet. We've been to Mars, Towess, Earth, Plutark, and a bunch of planets I never bothered learnin names of. And we never could make friends with the local bad guys." 

Sparks smiled. "Yeah, well, they're so collectively-known for their comradery." 

"Speakin of comradery." The adult mouse hit the radio in his helmet. "Throttle. Vinnie. Come on, bros. Where are you guys? Nothin but static." He avoided the shots from a transport full of Internal Security officers behind his bike. 

They rounded the corner and faced the park. Another gunfight was taking place near the elevator up to the bridge. A ring of officers surrounded the pavilion with more inside it, all shooting at an overturned stone picnic table. "That's Axle!" Sparks pointed briefly at the table. The cream-furred mouse crouched behind it, returning fire when she could. 

Modo revved his bike and scattered the officers with its laser cannons. "Axle-ma'am!" 

She jumped up from behind the table. Modo scooped her into his lap with his metal arm. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her tail around his waist. "Good. Sparks is with you."

"Is Roddie okay?" Sparks tried to keep the worry out of his voice. _Roddie's tough. She's been the toughest person I've known my entire life. Exhaust'll wish he never messed with her. She'll be okay. She better be okay._

Axle's mouth twisted with distress. "They took My Captain away. I could not stop them. We must contact Captain Lance."

Modo carefully swerved to avoid the laser bolt. "First, we gotta get away from these wrenchheads and find my bros. Any ideas?" 

"Tala's ship! It's got weapons and supplies and we can call Lance." Sparks clung tighter to Modo as the laser bolts whizzed closer. 

"Hang on!" Axle ducked her head under Modo's chin as he accelerated the bike. A missile launched from the rear of the bike hit the transport. Burning hunks of metal and Internal Security officers rained through the air. 

Modo turned, riding straight for the hanger bay elevator without slowing. "The door!" Sparks squeaked. 

"Don't bother with 'em in an emergency. It's a rule." The laser canons blew away the doors and part of the surrounding walls. "It's gonna be tight, darlin." The bike beeped in response and fired its rocket jets. They jumped into the air. Modo ducked his head underneath the jagged metal edge and pulled the front wheel up. They landed on the wall of the elevator shaft and kept going up. 

"Cool! And everything's an emergency, huh?" 

"Now yer learnin, Kid." 

A missile freed the doors of the hanger bay the _More Hot Stuff_ was parked in. Modo brought the bike to a skidding stop underneath the belly of the black ship. "MC! Open up!" he bellowed. 

"I am not authorized to do so, Biker Modo," the feminine computerized voice answered. 

"Colonel Exhaust is after us!" Sparks yelled. 

There was a quiet moment. Then with a hiss of escaping gas, the cargo hatch lowered. Modo drove the bike up onto it and they were carried up into safety. 

* * *

Charley eagerly took Throttle's offered drink and gulped it down, trying to wipe her teary eyes at the same time. He chuckled. "I warned ya. You said you could handle it." 

"So I should've said I didn't want my mouth on fire for the rest of my life?" 

"Let me cure that for ya." He kissed her, softly slipping his tongue into her mouth. She closed her eyes and traced his chest muscles with her fingers. He pulled his mouth back, ending the kiss, and wiped the tear remnants from her cheeks. "Feel better?" 

"Yeah, but now I'm hot in a completely different part of my body." Her stomach growled. "And I'm still hungry." 

"Well, since we're here, let's take care of lunch." Throttle twisted around in the booth to signal the waiter, grimaced, and grabbed hold of the table. 

"What's wrong?" 

"It's Roddie. She's in trouble." 

"How do you know?" 

He slid out of the booth, stood up, and slipped his field specs back on. "Part of what Vinnie calls _Martian mind tricks_. It must be bad; she's screamin for help." 

Charley glanced back at the entrance to the Astro Café. Four armed mice wearing the same red and black uniform as Colonel Exhaust stood there. "I bet they're the ones behind it." 

Throttle glanced back, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the booth. "You're holdin onto our money already, Charley-girl. No fair takin it." He whistled for his bike. 

No bike came crashing through the walls. The Internal Security officers started toward them, wading through the crowded restaurant. "Shit. Let's go!" 

They ran into the kitchen and through it. Throttle thrust cooks, waiters, waitresses, and other restaurant employees out of their way with quick apologies. The kitchen exit led into an access alley between buildings. Two officers guarded the rear. He shot them both before they could bring up their rifles. He adjusted his hold on her hand and led them further into the network of alleys. 

"I don't suppose you have that gun Tala gave you on ya?" He asked. 

"No, it's still in my dresser back at the garage. Next time Greasepit kidnaps me, I'll be sure to ask him to wait so I can go get it." 

"I'm getting you a holster for it on your next birthday. Take mine." He pressed his gun into her free right hand. His voice dropped as they paused at an intersection of alleys. "Those guys are still behind us. I'm gonna draw them off. You go that way and find Vinnie, Modo, or Tala. Don't trust anyone else." He brushed a quick kiss across her lips and shoved her gently in the direction he wanted her to go. Then he took off noisily in the opposite direction. 

Charley moved quietly through the alley. Footsteps were coming toward her. She pressed herself into a shallow doorway into another building and tried its doorknob. _Please! Please, oh please be open!_ Fervent hoping paid off and it opened. 

She slipped inside and someone knocked the gun from her hand. She looked up into the face of an Internal Security officer. "Number Twelve, I found one of the humans," he said to the microphone of his headset. 

She shoved him back and ran past. He staggered but didn't fall. His tail looped around both her ankles and yanked. Her feet flew out from under her and she crashed to the floor. Another mouse grabbed her hands and put handcuffs around her wrists while she lay there stunned. He didn't care how tight the cuffs were either. 

"The traitor is putting up quite a fight." 

The mouse handcuffing her laughed and pulled her up to her feet. "This should take the fight out of him." The end of a tail wrapped around her throat and squeezed experimentally. "No funny business, alien," he warned as she gagged. The pressure eased as they led her back into the alley. 

Throttle was cornered in a dead-end alley but was still putting up a good fight with just his nuke-knucks. He chuckled as he tossed one officer into a group of three, knocking them over. "I've known Sand Raiders who put a better fight than this." Charley was shoved forward until the tail wrapped around her throat stopped her. Throttle's expression shifted into a silent snarl. 

"Surrender now." The tail began to tighten. She gasped for air and her vision swam. 

"You sons of rats!" She could barely see the tan-furred mouse power down his nuke-knucks and pull the glove off. "There. I surrender. Now let her go!" 

The tail didn't release her until someone's hands tore it away. Charley coughed, sucked down air, and realized she had fallen to her knees as the blackness faded from her eyes. Throttle knelt in front of her, holding her up. "It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay," he whispered until the officers jerked them apart. 

One of the Internal Security officers laughed. "A taste in alien sluts must be a genetic flaw." 

Throttle snarled and tried to leap for that mouse, but the other officers punched and kicked him back down. 

* * *

The laser canons on Tala's bike made short work of the Internal Security officers trying to cut their way into a section of the ship. Her bike skidded to a stop next to the intercom mounted beside the door. "Ivero? It's Tala." 

The door slid open and she drove through it. Vinnie glanced around quickly. It seemed to be a large factory. The quick glance reminded him of the ironworks he and his bros had rescued from Limburger three years ago. 

The quick glance was all he had time for before a giant humanoid, eight and a half feet tall with two legs and four arms marched up to them. "Looks like Exhaust has finally made a move. Glad he decided to do it while you're onboard." He rumbled at them. 

"The nut probably thinks I'm a key figure in his imaginary conspiracies. What are you guys doing?" 

Ivero grinned, revealing two rows of very pointed teeth. "Keeping as many of them busy as we can until the Captain sorts this out. I already sent some boys to watch out for the baby and its mom." 

Vinnie nudged Tala. "So ya didn't go straight back to your ship last night." 

"Earning a detection badge, Mouse Scout?" She turned her attention back to Ivero. "Fine, if you have the non-mice protected, we can go help the Captain." She shook one of Ivero's hands quickly. "Don't destroy the ship." She looked over her shoulder at Vinnie. "Hang on." She hit a button on the buckle of her gun belt. 

The blue energy deposited them in Tala's transport booth in the cargo hold of _More Hot Stuff_. "Damn. And I was lookin forward to beatin up some more of those guys." 

"Don't worry, we'll have to go out again." She drove the bike out of the booth. Modo and his passenger-loaded bike had just parked next to the cargo hatch. Axle slid off his lap and a grey-furred, eight-year-old boy mouse hopped off from behind him. "That's two mouse scouts accounted for," Tala continued. "Where's Throttle?" 

"Can't raise him," Modo answered worriedly. "Axle-ma'am says Roddie was taken prisoner." 

"She and Throttle went off together," Vinnie said quickly remembering. "Charley was watchin his bike at Fender's." 

"She would answer a hail and she hasn't!" 

"My Captain was brought down off the bridge alone," Axle said in her oddly hesitant speech. 

"But I doubt she would bring Throttle up there while she was working." Tala got off her bike. "Sparks, show Axle the radio. You two contact Fender and Lance. Find out if Fender knows where Charley and Throttle have disappeared to and tell Lance what's going on." 

"Right." The grey-furred kid led the older cream-furred mouse to the cockpit. 

Vinnie sighed as he climbed off Tala's bike. "I knew it; I knew it! Throttle's havin all the fun!" 

Modo glanced over him curiously. "Where's your ride?" 

"Those . . . those . . . those . . .." 

"Wrenchheads?" 

"Stole my bike! What's next? Rock n' roll?" 

Tala's blue eyes rolled ceiling-ward. "Even they know better. MC, do you think you can hack into Internal Security's computer without getting caught?" 

"I have done so before, Mistress Tala." 

Sparks stuck his head back inside the cargo hold. "Lance says access to the Squad's hanger bay has been cut off. They've been out on maneuvers for a while." 

"Famak! What about Fender?" 

"He ain't answerin." 

MC's feminine digital voice interrupted. "I have located Biker Throttle and Miss Davidson. They have been captured by Internal Security." 

"Oh mama," Modo said. 

"First my bike and now my bro! What are we waiting for!" 

"A plan, Hot-head." Tala grabbed his white furred arm before he charged out the door. "If we go blazing in there, Exhaust has three hostages to use against us." 

"We could transport in and get 'em out," Modo suggested. 

"The cell area is shielded to prevent that. So the Plutarkians can't get any prisoners out," Sparks explained. 

"I know this is gonna kill you, Vinnie. But we gotta wait and be sneaky." 

"Biker Mice do not sneak." 

"Then it's time you learned," Tala snapped back. 

* * *

Roddie sighed and brought her knees up to her chest as she leaned against the wall of the cell. _Throttle is closer. I can feel that. But I can also feel his worry and pain. I don't think he's here on a rescue mission. All you gods that I don't believe in, please keep Lance and Sparks safe. Please keep them safe._

Marching footsteps heading toward her cell echoed down the metal hall. The black-furred mouse stood up; clenching her fists at her sides as the heavy door slid open. The chestnut-haired human was shoved inside. The door slammed shut behind her but she turned around and kicked it. Then she pounded on it as she let out a scream of frustration. 

"Charley." Roddie grabbed hold of the human woman's shoulders. "That won't do any good. Don't, you'll just hurt yourself." 

The taller woman turned away from the door. Roddie gasped involuntarily at the wide bruise developing around her throat. Tears brimmed in her green eyes--not the first she had shed today either. "Throttle. They took Throttle away." 

She drew Charley's head down to her shoulder. "Throttle's okay. I'd know if he wasn't." 

"They kept calling him _traitor_ and kept hitting him. And he wouldn't fight back, not unless one of them hit me. They took him away and there's no telling what they're doing to him now!" 

She rocked the crying woman gently. "Shush. It's gonna be okay. Throttle's tough. He's been tough ever since he was four-years-old. He'll come back to you. To both of us." 

"Those mice never let me do anything. I stay home, patch up the bikes, patch up them. But this is the first time I've felt completely helpless!" Charley pulled away with an angry growl. "There has to be something we can do!" 

"Suggest away. I'm willing to do anything once." 

Charley stared around at the bare metal room and sank down to the floor. "There's nothing we can do, is there?" 

"Cheer up. I'm pretty sure Tala's still loose. She'll get us out. I've got great faith in anyone who takes on slave ships single-handed." 

The human woman glanced over at the female mouse kneeling beside her. "Why are you here? I thought Exhaust hated aliens." 

"Throttle didn't tell you? Typical, those macho mice automatically assume everyone knows what they do. I'm only half mouse. My mother was a shapeshifter who decided she liked Mars and settled there. She never could get the eyes right, and I inherited them." 

"No, Throttle didn't tell me. Sometimes, I think they forget I'm not a mouse. Throttle kept looking for my non-existent tail when we . . .." She realized who she was talking to and broke off with a blush. 

"Had sex?" Roddie supplied with a grin. 

"He told you!" 

"Not really." She ruefully touched one of her red antennae. "Martian mind tricks. Throttle's out of practice if he wants to keep things from me. He doesn't know I know." 

"I think we better keep it between us." 

"I'll add it to my list of sordid secrets I know about him." Roddie's ears perked up. "Someone's coming." 

They both scrambled to their feet. The door of the cell slid open and the male tan-furred mouse was shoved inside. He couldn't remain on his feet and fell face-first to the floor. 

"Oh god, Throttle!" Charley rolled him over and knelt by his side. 

Roddie stayed back. Throttle was bleeding slightly at the corner of his mouth. Other small bleeding cuts were scattered around his face. His left cheek was swelling underneath his field specs. 

"I'm fine, Charley-girl." He reached up and stroked her cheek. "It looks worse than it is." 

"Then I'd hate to see you when you need a trip to the hospital." She untied the red bandanna around his neck and started cleaning his cuts. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The human woman's hands paused as she tried to control their shaking. 

"This isn't your fault." 

"Every time we're alone together you get shot at or beat up!" 

"That's not true," Throttle insisted. 

"It even happened when we infiltrated the Road Ravens!" Tears started spilling down Charley's cheeks. "And it's been happening ever since!" 

"There's been lots of times we've been together and nothing bad happened and you know it." 

Charley didn't seem to be listening to Throttle. "And your own people turn against you because of me." 

Throttle pushed himself up to a sitting position, breathing through clenched teeth. "Exhaust is hardly the voice of enlightenment on Mars. And even if he was, I still wouldn't care 'cause I love you. Don't give up on us before we even really start." His voice pleaded as he stroked her wet cheek. 

Charley sniffled and started to smile. "This is an argument that I'm not gonna win, isn't it?" 

He kissed her and swept her into a hug. "Nah, you're not gonna win. But you can be right next time." 

Roddie gave into the half-giggle lurking in her throat. "For a minute there, I was worried about you two." 

"Not exactly the stellar rescue I was hopin for." He leaned heavily on Charley as she helped him up. "You're hurt." 

Roddie looked down at the stiff red-brown stains on her red tank top and torn gold shirt. "Not my blood." She helped Charley ease Throttle over to and against the wall. "Exhaust ordered Ruger to shoot my entire bridge crew to get to me. I should have suspected he would plant an agent there." She felt her face harden. "If he's hurt Sparks or Lance . . .." 

Throttle squeezed the arm he had around her black-furred shoulders. "Sparks went looking for Modo," Charley said. "They made friends or something." 

"The Big Fella won't let anybody hurt a kid. Him and Vinnie still loose?" 

"Yeah." Charley kept her arms wrapped around his torso as they sat on the floor. "A bunch of those Internal Security guys were reporting in failures after they took you away. I think it's a safe bet they're still riding." 

"Wait a minute. Our rescue is depending on Modo and Vinnie?" 

"They've gotten better, little sis-cuz. They've gotten better." 


	8. Chapter Eight: Rescue

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Eight: Rescue**

"Biker Mice do not sneak." The white-furred mouse repeated with his arms folded across his chest. 

"Roddie, Charley, and Throttle's lives are on the line. We do not have time to explore your psychological hang-ups about being quiet!" Tala brushed past Sparks as she stormed out of the _More Hot Stuff_'s cargo hold. 

Biker Mice don't use doors. Biker Mice don't sneak. I think I may have found a career path. Sparks grinned to himself as he went to the workstation set up in the corner of the cargo hold. He opened the upper cabinet, then the hidden compartment, and pulled out a laser pistol like his while Vinnie continued to complain. 

"Back me on this, bro. It's no fun to sneak!" 

"Let's hear her plan out first. Then we can modify." Modo turned to Sparks. "What are you up to?" 

"Gettin a gun. This is where Tala keeps 'em." He shut the cabinet; gun now strapped around his waist. "Mine's back in my room." 

Vinnie smirked. "Can you shoot one?" 

"Can you moan and groan about everything in orbit? Roddie's been teachin me since I was big enough to hold one." Sparks left the cargo hold and headed down the hall. The two older male mice followed. Tala and Axle were in the lounge area of Tala's ship. 

"I demand to know where you received those plans to the ship!" The cream-furred mouse with white hair was as unyielding as she could make her vocal cords sound. 

Tala sighed as she used the vidcom to scroll through the blueprint plans for the _Fury_. "Axle, I know you're just worried about Roddie, Lance, and Clutch, so I'm gonna be nice. Get out of my face." 

"Those plans are only available to the command crew. And I am positive My Captain did not authorize you access to them." Axle turned and her red eyes focused on the new arrivals to the room. "Sparks." __

I'm space debris. "What?" He said, hoping his I'm-completely-innocent tone was convincing. 

It wasn't. "What did you get from her for the plans of the _Fury_?"

"You're not my mom or Roddie. I don't have to tell ya anything." He folded his arms across his chest and stared up at her stubbornly. 

She turned back to Tala. "You made a deal with a child?"

"I don't believe in age discrimination. Now we need to get Roddie, Charley, and Throttle out of Exhaust's clutches; free the hanger bay so the Rock Squad can return; take back the bridge; and capture Exhaust. I'm thinking a divide and conquer might work best." 

"Which do we need to do first?" Modo asked. 

"Getting our people out and in is most important," Axle said. 

"I think we should hit the hanger bay and Internal Security cells at the same time." Tala frowned at the vidcom screen. "The hanger bay won't be a problem. But I can't find a way into the Internal Security section of the ship that they won't see coming. And Exhaust is consolidating most of his people there, at the hanger bay, and at the elevator to the bridge." 

"It don't take much to beat those guys," Vinnie declared. 

"That may be, but they still out number us. And you guys are two bikes and a scout short," Tala retorted. 

"Throttle always picks the worst moments to get captured," Modo grumbled. 

Sparks walked over to the vidcom and stared intently at the section of the _Fury_ it was focused on. "What about the maintenance tubes?" 

"We don't have time to reprogram a maintenance bot to open cells. And we're too big to fit through them." 

Why do grown-ups always miss the obvious? "I'm not." 

Tala shook her head so hard her short blonde hair actually lifted off her head. "No. No way. No way in hell!" 

"They're not any smaller than the ventilation shafts and I can fit through those just fine." He had to stretch to point out the ventilation shafts and the maintenance tubes on the vidcom display. His heart pounded with excitement. He was gonna help. There was no way they could rescue Roddie and the others without him. 

"Roddie'll have our heads!" The human woman insisted. 

"We have to get her away from Exhaust first. And if the endless complainer over there is causin a loud and violent distraction, they shouldn't see me comin in." 

"This plan has potential." Vinnie's ears perked up. 

"My Captain would never approve," Axle declared. 

"All I have to do is crawl through with some weapons and let them out. It's not like I'm tryin to cut my way through an entire troop of stinkfish." Tala was wavering; Sparks could see it. "I thought you didn't believe in age discrimination." 

That did it. "All right, Axle and me will take the hanger bay. Vinnie, you go knock on Internal Security's front door and keep them busy while Modo drops Sparks at the maintenance tube entrance. Then Modo can help with the distraction while Sparks frees the prisoners." 

"Keep 'em busy on what?" Vinnie demanded. Then he grinned--an ear-to-ear, taking up his entire face, showing every tooth in his mouth grin--and turned to Tala. 

"Get that idea out of your head right now," she ordered. 

"It's an emergency. Just till I rescue my bike. I won't scratch the paint. I won't even use flight mode." 

"I don't like you enough to let you use my bike!" 

"Hey, you admitted you liked me in front of witnesses!" He sobered quickly. "There isn't another option, Tala." 

She stepped up to him, keeping her balled-up fists down at her sides. "Let me make this crystal clear to you. If anything happens to my bike, I will space you so fast, you'll be dead before you realize what happened." 

The white-furred mouse took hold of her cheeks and planted a deep kiss right on the stunned human woman's lips. "I wouldn't expect anything else, Doll-face." He said when they parted. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the lounge and down the hall. 

* * *

Charley rested her head against Throttle's shoulder. He tightened the grip his tail had round her waist. _Everything is going to be fine. We just have to wait for Vinnie, Modo, and Tala. They'll get us out of here._

Roddie curled her knees up her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "You guys spent three days like this with the Plutarkians?" 

"It only took us ten seconds to get bored. The rest of the time was used to figure a way to break loose and crash the ship." Throttle sighed. "Usually the high point of any stay of capture is taunting the capturees. Exhaust hasn't been by once." 

"He always struck me as a lousy villain." 

"Three days with the Plutarkians and crashed the ship? I don't know this story." Charley squeezed him slightly. 

"It was about a year after the Battle for the Tug Transformer. The Plutarkians captured the three of us and decided to ship us to Plutark for execution. We weren't real thrilled with that plan, crashed the ship into a planet that makes the Pits look like a walk in the park, and spent the next three years trying to get back to Mars. Made it to Earth and the rest ya know." 

"You guys have a knack for crashing ships. Does the record stand at three or are there others you forgot to tell me about?" 

He counted them off on his fingers. "The prison transport, the Thunderpipe, the Stench Carrier. That's the only ones with us at the helm. I ain't takin responsibility for Rimfire's." 

"You macho mice aren't going near my bridge again," Roddie muttered. 

Throttle started to reply but stopped and cocked his head. "They're coming." 

Charley swallowed hard as she and Roddie helped Throttle to his feet. The heavy door of their cell slid open. Five Internal Security officers stepped inside. Two carried rifles aimed at them. The spokes-mouse was one of three that didn't have one. "The human is to come with us now." 

"Like hell." The tan mouse growled and stepped in front of both females. 

"We are prepared to use violence if necessary." The two male mice with the rifles stepped closer. 

Charley grabbed hold of Throttle's arm, briefly allowing herself the pleasure induced by the texture of his fur. "No. I won't let them hurt you again." 

He turned to face her, the expression stricken behind his field specs. "Charley." 

"Let me do something dangerous just once." She kissed him quickly. "I'll be waiting for that nick of time rescue you guys love pulling off," she whispered. She stepped away and walked into the arms of the waiting officers. The other two mice seized her arms and pulled her out of the cell. 

The spokes-mouse smirked as they pulled her out of the cell and started down the hall with her. "I hope you two can be just as cooperative when it comes time for your executions," he tossed in before sliding the door closed again. 

"NOOOOO!" from Throttle echoed and slammed against the metal walls of the hall. Charley clenched her teeth, recognizing his anger and despair. _You bastards aren't going to find me that easy to kill. And I'm going to enjoy watching him rip you apart!_

* * *

Modo glanced over his shoulder at the kid. Sparks readjusted the extra guns he had strapped around his waist with an excited and scared expression on his face. _Best get his mind off it for a bit. At least, till it's time to get serious._ "What happened to your folks?" 

"Momma died when I was three. Her and Roddie were friends for a long time, so she gave custody to her. I never knew my father; he got left behind on Mars." 

"My old man wasn't around when I was a kid either." 

"Roddie said he died. Maybe you guys knew him. He was a Freedom Fighter." 

Modo pulled his bike up to a manhole cover mounted on the wall. "This is it, right?" 

"Yeah." Sparks pulled his lower lip between all his teeth as he slid off the back of the bike. 

"We'll figure out who your old man was later. You might still have family on Mars." The kid continued to stare at the maintenance tube cover. "Of course, we need Roddie to tell us who your old man was." 

"I'm going, I'm going." He lifted the hatch and listened intently. "Sounds like Vinnie found the opposition." 

"That's what he's good at. Now remember no fighting. Just get in there; free Throttle, Roddie, and Charley; and let them handle it." 

"Right, right, I know. And if trouble finds me, run. Cheese, you're as bad as Axle." 

"Hardly," Modo said, remember the coaxing necessary to get her to agree to this plan. "What's her deal?" 

"Half her brain got replaced by a computer. It makes her anal, but," he shrugged, "it beat the alternative. Roddie saved her life so she completely loyal." Sparks grabbed hold of the tube's sides and pulled himself into it. "See ya on the other side." 

Modo gently shut the hatch behind him. "Good luck, kid." 

* * *

Internal Security officers flew out of Vinnie's way aided into the air by the explosion of a missile from the blue racer. He laughed wildly. "I gotta start shopping where Tala buys her ammo!" 

He double-checked the viewscreen built into the crankcase of the bike. Two mousehead silhouettes blinked ahead of his position on the map. He shot away the wall in front of him and rode through the hole before the smoke cleared. 

His red racer and Throttle's black and chrome bike strained against the chains bolting them to the floor. "The bastards!" He got off of Tala's bike and pulled out his gun. He shot the chains off both bikes, then lovingly ran his hands over the body of his. "Are ya alright?" 

The red racer beeped and flashed its headlight. 

"Good." Vinnie quickly mounted it, pulling on his helmet. "There are some things a biker can shrug off and forgive. Stealin his bike ain't one of 'em! Come on, sweethearts! Let's go teach 'em a lesson. Biker Mice style!" 

All three bikes popped wheelies and revved in response. The white-furred mouse laughed wildly and blew a hole in an intact wall. Driving through it, he paused next to a groaning Internal Security officer on the floor. "Which way to the holding cells? I'm expected." 

* * *

Tala cocked the laser rifle against her shoulder. Her red and black armor suit was sealed. Her grey biking helmet was in deep space mode. "Axle?" 

"I am in place, Tala." 

The human woman took a deep breath, checked her gun belt around her waist one last time, and looked out at the cargo hold of her ship from her transport booth. "Okay, MC. Let's do it." 

"Yes, Mistress Tala." 

The blue energy deposited her in a larger hanger bay. Her laser rifle erupted as soon as the blue light faded. Internal Security officers surrounding her fell. She turned and ran through the hole she had created in their ranks. 

Officers yelled and gave chase, shooting at her. She ducked behind some barrels of fuel. _As Vinnie would say: "Light my fire!"_ She kicked a barrel away and into the group of mice. 

A stray laser bolt hit it. The resulting fireball scattered most of the mice and threw Tala against the hanger bay wall. She grunted as she fell back to the floor. "Now Axle!" She activated her magnetic boots. 

The huge outer doors of the hanger bay opened into the vacuum of space. The alarms sounded and warning lights flashed. Tala felt the pull as the atmosphere exploded away, but the soles of her boots clung to the metal floor. 

The Internal Security officers weren't that lucky. They all flew out the hanger bay door along with the loose equipment scattered around the bay. 

Tala watched. "Damn, I hope this works," she muttered to herself. 

Five of the sleek winged one-man fighters swooped into the hanger bay, each carrying a few Internal Security officers in their docking tractor beams. 

The Rock Squad had made it home. Tala sighed with relief as the twenty ships landed and the hanger bay's doors closed. Air started circulating again once the door sealed. 

She turned off her magnetic boots and ran to the lead ship. The sorrel-furred mouse dressed in a black flight suit jumped down from the cockpit, somersaulting in the air, and landed in front of her. "Where's Roddie?" 

She palmed off her face screen. "Vinnie and Modo are handling getting her out." 

"And Sparks," Axle added as she stepped up to them. 

Tala shot the cream-furred mouse a dirty look. "Are you programmed never to leave anything out?" 

"Sparks? Roddie's going to have your heads," Lance announced. 

"She has to get away from Exhaust first," the human pointed out. "And we didn't have a choice. But we're supposed to take back the bridge now that we have your squad." 

"What happened to the bridge?" 

"Internal Security officers escorted My Captain off and surrounded it. We have not been able to contact Commander Clutch," Axle swallowed hard. "Or anyone else on duty inside."

Lance ordered three of his fighters to guard the recovering Internal Security officers. "After you, ladies." 

* * *

Two mice forced Charley through a door at the end of the hall. It was another cell only it contained a tilting table hooked up to a waist-high control panel. Exhaust turned from the control panel. "Strap the alien down." 

Charley dug the heels of her cowboy boots against the solid metal floor. The two officers holding her regripped her arms and dragged her forward. She cried out involuntarily as their fingers dug painfully into her flesh. They slammed her back against the vertical table. One mouse held her in place as the other cinched the straps across her ankles, her thighs, her lower arms and stomach, and her upper arms and chest just below her breasts. The officer grinned down at her as he felt her up while cinching the last. She tried to twist out of his reach but the straps were almost too tight to breathe. 

Exhaust stood next to the table as the mouse who had held her down started working the controls. The table tilted back slowly becoming horizontal. "You should feel honored, human. You are the first one to test this machine." 

"I don't deserve it. Wanna trade places?" 

"Does humor make it easier to face your death?" 

"Who said I was joking?" 

The white and black-furred mouse lifted her head, pulling her chestnut hair away from her neck. He pulled it all to the top of her head and held it there while he pulled the collar of her blue shirt away from the base of her neck. "From what I understand of human anatomy, your central nervous system is set up basically the same as a mouse's. Which means if we place this electrode on your spinal column." A cold metal knob pressed against her spine at the base of her neck. "It will override your entire system until you die." He pressed her head back against the table and tightened a cinch around her forehead. "I'm not sure exactly how it works. It's supposed to create the same type of electricity a nervous system does. And I was assured that it is a long, slow, painful way to die. Which, I can assure you, you fully deserve, alien." He nodded to the mouse at the control panel. 

I won't scream. I won't scream. I won't give him the satisfaction. Vinnie and Modo are coming. Throttle'll be here soon. 

The first jolt sent convulsive spasms through her body. The pain overwhelmed everything she concentrated on and she screamed to try to rid her body of it. 


	9. Chapter Nine: Assault

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Nine: Assault**

Sparks paused inside the maintenance tube at a hatch leading back into the habitable portion of the _Fury_. A male voice screaming _no_ finally died away. "Guess this is my stop." He pulled the hatch up and froze. 

Four Internal Security officers were escorting the human woman he had met earlier in Dr. Fender's lab. Two gripped her arms and pushed and pulled her down the hall. The other two flanked them. 

Charley-ma'am. He swallowed hard. He couldn't help her, no matter how badly he wanted to. The group turned right at the intersection he was above. _I'll get Roddie and Throttle. Then we can come get ya. Biker's honor. Even if I ain't a biker yet._

He waited until he was sure the group had passed. Then he dangled from the hatch and dropped silently to the floor below. He quickly headed up the hall. 

Roddie's soothing tone of voice was audible from behind the cell door, but he couldn't make out the words. "And what do we have behind door number one?" Sparks quickly worked the controls and the door began to slide open. 

"They're all gonna pay, Roddie. Starting with this one!" A large male's hand grabbed a fistful of Sparks's T-shirt as soon as the door slid open enough and yanked him inside. The tan mouse's other fist was cocked back, readying to punch. 

"Sparks!" Roddie cried and grabbed hold of the tan mouse's arm before he could throw the punch. 

"Is this the way you always greet the cavalry?" The grey-furred boy said shakily. 

"Sorry, thought you were with Internal Security." He released Sparks, pulled down his shades, and blinked his red eyes at the kid. 

Roddie grabbed hold of Sparks's shoulders as soon as Throttle let go and shook the boy hard. "What are you doing here!" 

"Rescuing you; what does it look like?" 

"Whose idea was this?" 

"I was the only one small enough to fit through the maintenance tubes." He said, hoping Roddie was in the mood to be logical about his helping. 

She wasn't. "Whose idea?" She gave him another shake. 

"We're space debris," Sparks concluded. 

"Roddie?" Throttle said slowly. His eyes were still uncovered. 

"What?" 

Laser bolts hit the doorway. "It'll wait!" Throttle thrust Sparks behind him, snatching a gun off the boy's belt. He covered himself in the cell doorway, shoved his shades back in place, and returned fire. 

The black-furred mouse seethed for a second longer, then held out her hand. Sparks laid a gun into it, carefully avoiding direct eye contact with her solid-blue eyes. She knelt on the other side of the door and started firing down the hall. Throttle continued to fire above her head. 

Sparks angled himself in the cell so he could see the other end of the hall--the one Roddie and Throttle had their backs to. Three Internal Security officers quietly moved closer. He pulled out his gun and leaned against Throttle hanging his head, right arm, and gun into the hall. He fired it three times before the older mouse could object. 

Throttle pulled Sparks back into the cell and looked back. All three were down. "I see you've been passing traditions along." 

Roddie glanced back. "He's not supposed to have a gun yet." 

"Tala let me borrow it." _I'm dead if she ever finds the one I traded the Fury's plans for._

Roddie sighed. "We're pinned down here. Any ideas?" 

Throttle cocked his head, then grinned. "Don't need one." Explosions ripped apart the cells on the opposite side of the hall right next to the spot where the Internal Security officers had positioned themselves. Powerful motorcycle engines and squealing tires filled the void left by the explosion. 

"AOOOW! Visiting hours extended just for me? Really, I can't thank ya enough. No, no, please don't get up. We can find them, no problem." 

The black and chrome bike Sparks had seen at Fender's lab rolled up to the door of their cell, beeping reproachfully. Throttle grabbed hold of the handlebars. "Glad to see you, too." 

Vinnie stopped his one-sided conversation with the Internal Security bodies littering the hall and rolled toward them on a red racer. A practically identical, riderless bright blue racer followed. He let out a low whistle when he saw Throttle's battered face. "Tell me ya got some blows in, bro." 

"Not yet. Where's everybody else?" The tan mouse swung into the bike's brown leather seat. 

"Modo's causin havoc in the front offices. Tala and Axle went to go let Lance and his group back in." 

"They're probably headed to the bridge by now," Sparks added. 

Throttle nodded. "Get Roddie and Sparks out of here. Then you and Modo help with retakin the bridge." 

"Where's Charley?" The white mouse asked in a tone suggesting he just remembered her. 

"I'm getting Charley." Throttle revved his bike. 

Sparks pointed down the hall. "They took her thataway. Make a right at the intersection." 

He reached over and ruffled Sparks's thick grey hair between his antennae. "Thanks." 

"Throttle?" Roddie stepped closer. 

"Go take your ship back. If I need help, I'll call." The rear tire squealed, leaving a long black mark on the metal floor. 

"Man, will I be glad when he starts actin normal again," Vinnie grumbled. "Do you still remember how to ride a bike?" 

"I'll pretended you didn't ask that." Roddie climbed onto the bright blue bike and pulled Sparks on behind her. "So we just follow your trail of destruction to get out, right?" She revved the bike, popped a wheelie, and shot through the hole left from the explosions. 

Sparks wrapped his arms tighter around her waist as she took Vinnie's handmade obstacle course at about eighty miles per hour. The bike squealed with alarm, popped out its laser cannon hidden behind its headlight, and blew away a large chunk of metal before they hit it. "I gotta get one of these!" 

"What?" Her face looked over her shoulder briefly. 

"I see why Lance doesn't let you near his fighter anymore!" 

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" 

* * *

Throttle could hear Charley's screams over the roar of his bike. The guards at the door at then end of the hall started shooting. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that!" His bike's laser canons took out their opposition and opened the door. He sped through. 

He skidded to a stop next to the table Charley was strapped down on. Screams erupted from her mouth and her body strained uncontrollably against the straps. "Hang on, Charley-girl!" He took hold of the straps across her forehead and chest and pulled them free. 

"Stop the traitor!" Exhaust screamed. 

Two Internal Security officers grabbed Throttle's arms and roughly pulled him off his bike. "Big mistake, pickin on my girl!" He planted his feet on the floor and flung them off. 

They flew to both sides of the room, sliding across the floor. The tan mouse sprang forward to the table again. He freed her arms before one of Exhaust's lackeys rushed forward with a growl. 

Throttle ducked. The mouse's swing passed completely over his head. Throttle stood back up with an upper cut to his stomach. The officer doubled over his fist. Throttle's left fist hit the officer's jaw and knocked him to the floor. 

Charley's screams stopped. Throttle turned in alarm to the table. She had rolled her upper body onto her side. Her damp hair fell over her face but she was still breathing. He grabbed the last two straps holding her down and tore them free. 

The other officer rushed to the other side of the table. He roughly grabbed hold of Charley's shoulder and side, and pushed the human woman's back flat against the table again. Her body bucked and she screamed. 

Throttle growled and tried to reach across the table to grab him. The officer evaded his grasp, keeping Charley's writhing body pinned to the table. Throttle lunged and missed again as his tail wrapped around the officer's legs. 

The officer looked down with a stupidly surprised expression. Throttle's tail pulled and he crashed down on his back, dragging Charley off the table as he did. Throttle vaulted over the table careful not to land on her and grabbed hold of the officer by his uniform. One punch knocked him silly. Two punches knocked him out. Three punches made Throttle feel better. 

He let go of the officer and he slumped back to the ground. Throttle started to turn to Charley when a boot kicked him in the jaw. With his balance off from bending over, Throttle was thrown onto his back by the kick. 

Exhaust grabbed the lapels of his sleeveless leather jacket in one hand as his other fist pounded into the tan-furred face. "I won't lose the _Fury_ like I lost Mars! I won't!" 

The field specs flew across the room. Throttle pushed his body up with his tail and left arm. As soon as he had enough room, he planted his feet against the floor. His right fist balled up and socked the white half of Exhaust's face. Exhaust rocked back and let go of Throttle's jacket. 

The tan mouse jumped to his feet. "We're not fighting for hunks of rock or metal!" He rushed Exhaust grabbing the smaller mouse and lifting him up into the air. He continued forward and slammed Exhaust down onto the table. Throttle's sensitive ears heard bone breaking. Exhaust's eyes opened impossibly wide around his red irises. He screamed and his body convulsed. 

Throttle stepped back. Exhaust's body twitched and rolled itself off the other side of the table. Blood covered a metal knob pushed up out of the table. He turned away and dropped to his knees next to Charley. 

He gathered her into his arms. Her face was damp with sweat and pale, even her lips had gone white. "Charley? Charley?" He rubbed her cheek. She didn't respond. 

She was still breathing but it was shallow breaths. He could barely feel her pulse. "No, Charley, no!" He restrained from shaking her as his heart lurched. "Don't you leave me! Not like this! Do you think I can go on without you? Don't you leave me! Not when I love you this much! Don't you leave me!" 

"I haven't gone anywhere." Her green eyes fluttered open. "And I don't think I will after that." 

"Like I'm gonna give you a chance?" He pulled her closer. The tears building in his eyes spilled over and his heart pounded in a more familiar pattern. 

She wiped the salty wetness off his cheeks with a gentle touch. "I love you." 

"I love you too." His kiss landed on her forehead. Then another between her eyes, and another on the bridge of her nose, and another until he ended on her lips. "How do you feel?" 

"Tired." 

"Can you ride? The fight's not over yet." 

"Exhaust got away?" 

"Nah." He picked her up and carried her to his bike. "But his boys still have control of the bridge." He set her on the seat of the bike still shielding the sight of Exhaust's body from her. "And I don't wanna let you out of my sight." 

She grabbed hold of the seat until he slid on the bike in front of her. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he wrapped his tail around hers. "Funny. That's exactly how I feel." She leaned against his back. "Let's go." 

* * *

Vinnie swung his bike beside Modo's as they trailed behind Roddie's lead on the streets of Olympian City. "Do ya think Tala will space me if Roddie hurts her bike?" 

"Probably." The large grey mouse sucked in his breath as the black mouse almost laid down the blue racer turning a street corner. "She's gonna break both their necks!" 

"She ain't bad for being eight years out of practice though." Vinnie's ears perked up underneath his helmet. Laser fire was coming from dead ahead. 

Tala's bike skidded to a stop. It bucked until Roddie and Sparks flew off. Then it took off, straight ahead. Vinnie and Modo gunned their bikes and caught them as they fell to the street. "I don't think the bike liked how you drove it." The grey-furred kid said from Modo's arms. 

The black-furred mouse laughed as Vinnie swung her behind him. "Oh, I've missed that!" 

"It shows, Sweetheart." He narrowed his eyes and sped after the blue racer. 

"Bite me," Roddie replied cheerfully. 

"Thanks for the offer, but we wouldn't want to make Tala or Lance jealous." 

The laser fire ended as the bikes faced the park. Mice in flight suits surrounded the few Internal Security officers left standing with their arms raised in surrender. 

"Lance!" Roddie jumped off Vinnie's moving bike and ran for the sorrel-furred mouse. He caught her in a massive embrace as she jumped on him. Her legs locked around his hips and their kiss threatened to crush their snouts. 

Modo chuckled at the sight. "Don'tcha just love a happy ending?" 

"Depends on who gets it." Vinnie gulped as Tala walked toward them pushing her bike. 

The bike was still beeping angrily. And the human woman's expression was far from happy. "What did you do to my bike?" 

"I didn't do anything to it! Roddie was the one drivin like a bat outta hell." 

Tala glanced over at Modo who nodded. "Yep, bat outta hell. That's pretty accurate." 

"Roddie ain't teachin me how to drive, that's for sure." Sparks slid off Modo's bike and started walking toward the pavilion housing the elevator up to the bridge. Modo apparently decided that Tala wasn't going to injure his young bro in a physical way and trailed after the kid. 

Tala sighed and addressed her bike. "All right, all right, objection noted. It won't happen again." She turned back to Vinnie. "Where's Charley and Throttle?" 

"Throttle went after Charley and sent us ahead. What's left to do?" 

"Not much. We still have to get up to the bridge but that won't be as hard now that we have the main elevator back." 

Vinnie turned and looked at the elevator shaft rising from the floor of the hold to its ceiling. Sparks had just reached the pavilion. An Internal Security officer leaped out of the doors grabbing hold of the eight-year-old boy. "Get back! Stay back!" She yelled as she held a laser pistol at Sparks's head. "Just stay back!" She eased away from the pavilion. 

Sparks struggled against the hold she had round his neck. "Bomb! She planted a bomb in there!" 

"Sparks!" Roddie screamed. Lance had a firm hold on his wife and carried her away from the pavilion at a run. 

"Everybody get back!" Tala yelled. Mice scrambled back out of the park without giving into panic or losing the prisoners. 

Modo's bike wailed. Its rider was standing way too close to the pavilion, following the Internal Security officer and her hostage. "Let the kid go. He ain't done nothin." 

"Stay back! I'll shoot him! You want the firstborn of the _Fury_ to join his dead mother? Stay back!" 

"Damnit, Modo," Tala muttered at Vinnie's side. "Back off." 

"He won't. Not with a kid on the line." 

To prove Vinnie's assessment correct, Modo took another step closer. The Internal Security officer's gun swung away from Sparks's head and aimed at the large grey mouse. His arm canon popped up and the laser bolt from it knocked the gun from her hand. 

Sparks stomped on her foot. She released him with a yell. The boy pivoted and swung a beautiful knockout punch. It connected with her jaw and she fell back. 

Vinnie whistled. "That was sweet." 

Modo sprinted forward and scooped them both up in his arms. He continued running, throwing the three of them behind the nearby refreshment stand. 

The pavilion shattered. Tala threw herself at Vinnie, knocking him off his bike and onto the ground. _Damnit, she's in that armor,_ he observed as the rigid metal pressed unforgivingly against his flesh. The explosions ended and she lifted her head. Her blue eyes anxiously searched his face for signs of pain. He grinned up at her. "So, you like to be on top?" 

Her cheeks went scarlet and she scrambled off of him, deliberately pushing hard against his stomach. "Do you have to turn everything into a sexual reference?" 

"Nah." He stood up. "But you're pretty when you blush like that." He took off running toward the ruins of the refreshment stand before she could comment. "Modo!" 

"We're alright." Modo pushed a collapsed wall out of the way. Sparks clung to his side without realizing he was clinging. "Here. Take her." 

Vinnie caught the unconscious Internal Security officer as Roddie, Lance, and Modo's bike joined them. "Modo, get Sparks out of here before something else happens!" 

"But Roddie," Sparks wailed. 

"It's not open to debate! Modo, go!" 

"Gone." He picked up the still-protesting boy and put him on his bike. They took off. 

Vinnie slung the unconscious Internal Security officer over his shoulder and carried her over to the group of prisoners. He passed her over to a Rock Squad fighter and looked up, hearing a familiar motorcycle engine. Throttle's bike rolled down the street carrying his bro and Charley. 

He felt his grin fade as they got closer. Throttle's field specs were gone and his face was more battered than the last time he had seen it. Charley looked haggard--like two weeks worth of sleep had been wrung out of her. "You two look like hell," he blurted out when Throttle idled his bike next to him. 

"Hi, Vinnie, nice to see you too," Charley said weakly in hoarse voice. 

"You should see the other guys," Throttle retorted. "What's going on?" 

The white mouse looked at them curiously and intently. Something wasn't right. "The Rock Squad and Tala had this fight wrapped up by the time we got here." _Charley doesn't sit that close on the back of a bike._ "But Internal Security just blew up the elevator to the bridge. No one got hurt." _Throttle's got his tail round her. Throttle never puts his tail round a girl unless . . .._ "Modo went off with Sparks per Roddie's orders." _Cheese, it's the only thing that makes sense! The stupid guilty expressions he's been getting every time me or Modo mention Charley. The way they both jumped when I got back from the party. The two of them being so careful not to be alone together since their "talk". Charley shooing me and Modo out for breakfast before we even got off our bikes._ Vinnie grinned. _Where **did** Throttle sleep that night?_ "You two go get fixed up. We got things covered." 

Realization dawned on Throttle's face. Vinnie grinned harder. _Are you gonna say something now, Throttle? Or are you gonna wait? You know I know and you know I wouldn't be your bro if I let this go without comment._ Throttle's eyes searched Vinnie's face pleadingly, then turned away finding no mercy. "We'll be back at the rooms. Provided we still got rooms." 

Vinnie continued to grin as he joined the two Captains and Tala at the ruins of the elevator pavilion. The blonde human glanced at the leaving motorcycle. "They made it out okay?" 

"Better than okay." 

"What's so funny?" 

"I'll tell ya later. Boy, I'd pay money to break the news to Carbine." 

"That is a mess," Roddie declared. The elevator shaft was ripped away until about thirty feet up in the air where it continued whole to the ceiling. "How are we supposed to get up there now? Taking the stairs up will give them time to sabotage. If they haven't already." 

"I could get up there with flight mode." Tala said thoughtfully. "But I'm not taking passengers when we don't know what's up there." 

"What are we waiting for? Let's go see." Vinnie whistled for his bike. It rolled to his side obediently. 

"We?" Tala raised her eyebrows. 

"You don't think I'm lettin you have all the fun, do ya?" He balanced his bike on its rear wheel and fired its rocket jets. He shot up and safely landed inside the elevator shaft. His bike gave another burst with the jets and continued up. 

He looked over his shoulder at the floor. Tala and her bike were heading up now. She clicked on her radio. "You won't be happy until you break your neck, right?" 

"Please. I've jumped Olympus Mons, Doll-face. This is hardly a challenge." He glanced back at the bike with the wheels split and turned horizontal. "Sides, I intend to die satisfied." 

"Then I guess you're gonna be with us for quite a while." 

"Top floor, everybody off." The laser canons popped out of the red racer and blew the door apart. He jumped onto the main floor of the bridge and skidded to a stop. Tala's bike landed beside his, the wheels closing together before touching the floor. 

Only one person was still moving up on the catwalk. He started firing down on them with a laser pistol. 

Tala smirked. "You are so seriously out-gunned it's not even funny." 

Vinnie revved his bike and rode up the metal stairs. He turned his bike and its canons to face the sniper. "Hey, you're the jerk who shot at us when we first got here! You're gonna pay for that." 

"The _Fury_ is lost." The mouse stepped back. "Colonel Exhaust was the only one who could've saved it." 

"Exhaust couldn't save himself from a sandstorm," Vinnie retorted. "Now put down the gun. I'm sure Roddie's got some place to lock you up in." 

"I will not witness its final destruction." The mouse pushed the laser pistol against his temple. 

"No!" Vinnie leaped off his bike. The finger pulled the trigger. "No!" 

"Vinnie!" Tala jumped off her bike and ran up the stairs. 

He turned away and grabbed her shoulders, shielding her from the sight. He noticed his hands were shaking. "He's dead. I couldn't stop him." His voice quavered and he couldn't cure that either. "I couldn't stop him." 

"Save it for the innocents." He stared into her face. Her rough, raw voice continued. "Look around. See what he did. See if you can find any survivors." She steered him to the stairs. "I'll check to see if he sabotaged the ship." 

Vinnie swallowed hard and shook it off. _She's right. Must be some human female trait. Charley's never wrong either._ He moved quickly down the stairs and knelt next to the first body. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Recovery

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Ten: Recovery**

"She still treats me like a little kid! What do I have to do to prove I'm not a baby?" 

Modo hid his grin from the indignant kid. His rant reminded him of Rimfire's complaints from so many years ago. Under different circumstances, Sparks would probably be begging to join the Freedom Fighters. 

He finished ordering the combination lunch/supper/post-fight party room service and turned back to the grey-furred boy. The grin was carefully tucked away. "She loves ya. She doesn't want ya to get hurt." 

"And I love her. She practically the only family I got left. That's why I wanna help." 

"The only reason?" 

"Okay, okay, so it's more excitin than gettin babied. Is it a crime to want to live an adventurous life?" 

"Nah, but maybe you shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow-up." 

"Yeah, but sometimes there doesn't seem to be enough grown-ups to go around." 

Throttle and Charley staggering through the main door spared Modo from finding a suitable remark to that. "Oh mama!" He crossed the room in a few steps and grabbed hold of them both. Charley looked exhausted. Her green eyes were bloodshot and ringed with dark smudges. A wide bruise was growing darker around her throat. She leaned heavily against his flesh arm. 

Throttle leaned just as heavily against his metal arm. He hadn't seen his tan-furred bro this battered since the Plutarkian prison transport. The stinkfish had found it simple to beat up a guy who couldn't see to hit back. The knot on Throttle's left cheek was swelling the eye shut. Another knot was swelling on his right temple above his ear. And too many cuts to count. 

Modo helped them to the couch. His sight had gone red. He kept hold of them until they sank into the cushions, then turned and started striding to the door. 

"Modo? Modo, where are you going?" Even Charley's voice sounded sore. 

"I'm gonna find that scumbag." 

"You don't need to," Throttle said quietly. 

"There's a medkit in my bathroom." 

"I'll get it, Charley-ma'am." Sparks opened the door behind him, realized it was the right one, and entered. 

"I don't suppose I could get a glass of water?" Charley tried to smile but the effort only emphasized her weakness. 

Modo fixed a glassful and brought it to her. "Did you two see Vinnie?" 

"Yeah, he shooed us away. Didn't really feel like arguing with him. Roddie and Tala can keep him in line." Throttle winced as he eased back against the cushions. 

Charley took the medkit from Sparks with shaky hands. Modo gently took it from her. "I'll take first aid duty tonight." 

* * *

Vinnie gave out a triumphant cry. It startled Tala and she turned from the piloting instruments and looked over the railing of the large catwalk. "Found a live one!" He knelt beside a large mouse with coppery-red fur. "But he might not last too much longer." 

She ran down the metal stairs and to his side. "Clutch. Damal cie! We gotta get him to the medics. Let's get him on my bike." Between the two of them, they got Clutch draped over the crankcase of the blue racer. "You'll be okay?" 

His cocky grin was back. "You're worried 'bout my state of mind, Doll-face?" 

"Oddly enough, yes. Flight mode." The wheels of her bike split apart becoming horizontal to the floor. The magnetic pulse slid the bike over to and through the ruined elevator doors and gently down the empty elevator shaft. 

She could hear Roddie's irate voice above the noise of her engine and the medics rushing to her side as she landed. "I outrank him, damnit! Oh, I know he's right, Axle, don't even start defending him. But it's my bridge and I want to see what that son of a rat did to it!" 

"Not much equipment-wise." Tala said as she helped the medics move the large mouse to a stretcher. "Only one survivor though." 

Clutch groaned as the medics strapped him down. "Axle? Where's Axle?" 

The cream-furred mouse started forward then stopped, closing her red eyes. The medics started rolling the stretcher to their transport. Roddie shoved Axle forward. "What's wrong with you?" 

"But My Captain?" 

"How much more obvious does he have to be? He's calling for you. Do I have to order you to go with him?" 

"No, My Captain." She climbed into the medical transport and sat next to the stretcher, taking a large coppery red hand in between her own cream ones. 

"Maybe all this will be worth it if those two get together." Roddie said with a soft sigh as the transport rolled away. 

Tala shook her head. "You are an incurable romantic." 

"I like to see people happy, and people are happy when they're with the ones they love, and our species continues to flourish. A win-win-win situation. If that makes me incurable, oh well." Her solid blue eyes gleamed mischievously. "Speaking of romance, what's between you and the white bundle of adrenaline?" __

Damn, I really wished she hadn't noticed. But then discretion isn't part of Vinnie's make-up. Nor mine, if one gets picky. "I'm trying to give him a fair break. No one can expect anything more. And we don't need any help from you. He's pushy enough for a dozen people." 

The mouse tossed her black hair into the air. "That hadn't even crossed my mind. Just," she paused, "just treat him well, Tala. No matter what happens. I don't want my first crush doing something stupider than usual because of a broken heart." 

"I think you've got the body parts he's concerned with mixed up." 

Roddie laughed. "He's been horny ever since puberty hit. But he can be incredibly sweet when it occurs to him." 

There had been hints of that by the way he handled things between them in the ravine on Mars. Tala frowned slightly; _I really don't want to think about that._ She was saved from finding something to say by the sounds of rocket jets firing down the elevator shaft. 

Vinnie landed and parked his bike between Tala and Roddie. "Miss me, ladies?" 

"And you're here now, why?" Tala said quickly, avoiding Roddie's gaze. 

"Lance and his team kicked me out. I don't know what made 'em so nervous. I was just lookin at the flight controls." 

"You guys can't fly a ship anywhere without crashing it and you went near the flight controls?" Roddie groaned. "Get him out of here, Tala. We can handle clean-up." 

A female mouse in a flight suit ran up to them with a quick salute. "Ivero and the other miners are reporting from what's left of Internal Security headquarters. They want to speak with you, Captain." Roddie quickly followed her. 

Vinnie sighed. "I may not know much military protocol, but I think we've been dismissed. Can I see you back to your ship?" 

"I got rooms in the same building you do. I spend enough time on that ship as it is." 

They rode sedately side-by-side to the building. The white mouse broke the silence as they parked their bikes in the neighboring parking garage next to Throttle and Modo's. "Some date, huh? What do we do for a follow-up?" 

"A shower," Tala answered absently as she undid the red and black armor jacket. 

"Really? Okay. Didn't think you were ready for that. But I can understand the overwhelming need to see my studly bod in all its glory." He flexed proudly. 

"When I invite you to share a shower with me, there will be no doubts about what I want." They got into the elevator up into the building. "But just to clear up any confusion, what I want now is a nice, long, **private** shower and I'll see you in your rooms afterwards. Understand?" 

"Perfectly." He grinned. "I'll go chaperone Throttle and Charley . . . I mean see how they're doing." 

"They must've had an interesting imprisonment," she said dryly. 

"Imprisonment nothin. I wanna know where Throttle slept last week when he spent the night at Charley's!" Tala shook her head. "It's not whatcha think, Doll-face. Throttle won't tell. Which means it's gonna be so easy to rag him about it." 

"You're impossible. But I'm beginning to think I like you that way." The elevator stopped at her floor and she stepped off. 

"Tala, wait." Vinnie put himself between the elevator doors and held them open. "Didya have a good time? Before we got interrupted? After we got interrupted? At any time at all?" 

"Yeah, I did." She planted a quick kiss on his suddenly serious mouth. "I'll see you later," and pushed him back into the elevator. 

His "AOOOW!" echoed down to her ears. 

* * *

Modo had done a good job patching up Throttle. They included Sparks in their post-fight joviality, cheering the kid up. Charley tried hard to concentrate on what they were saying. Sparks was describing how Modo got them up to Tala's ship. It was so hard to concentrate; she was so tired. 

Throttle noticed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Charley-girl? You okay?" 

"Nothing hurts. I'm just tired. I think I'm gonna have to cut my partying short." 

"Are you sure you don't need a doctor?" Modo asked. 

"I'm just tired. I'll be fine with some sleep." 

"Then Throttle better stay in his own bed tonight." Vinnie said with a grin. He shut the hall door behind him. 

Throttle's blush glowed underneath his tan fur. "That was uncalled for." 

"Truth hurts," the white mouse replied cheerfully. "Speaking of tellin the truth, is this one of those attachments formed in prison? Or have ya been sneakin outta the scoreboard to see Charley for a long time now?" 

"That's it!" Throttle tackled the younger mouse around the waist and dropped him to the floor. 

"But somebody's gotta look out for her!" came out of the tumbling ball of fur in Vinnie's voice. 

Modo stared at his bros then turned to Charley. "Huh?" 

Now it was her turn to blush. "Throttle and I are . . .." 

"Oh." 

"You're not upset, are you?" 

"Why would I be, Charley-ma'am? Cause the girl of my dreams is gone? Nah." He sat down next to her on the couch and gave her a brief hug. "I just want both of ya to be happy." 

"Swallow your pride, Throttle. Just admit I got great taste in women. I was the first one to recognize Charley's babe potential." Vinnie cried out between blows. 

"Potential?" Charley muttered. 

Modo grinned wickedly and squatted next to the two wrestlers. "Yeah, Vin, you got great taste in women. But no follow through. Suppose this means I'll end up with Tala." 

"Over my dead body and rusty bike!" The white mouse leaped on top of Modo and pulled him into the fight. 

Sparks turned to Charley with wide-open eyes. "Do they always do that?" 

"Usually." 

"Is it a biker thing?" 

"I honestly don't know. Ask 'em about it when they stop." She stood up. "Good night, guys." She made it halfway to her bedroom before her legs started to buckle. 

Modo reacted to her and Sparks's startled cries first. He rolled out of the fight and underneath her and caught her before she hit the floor. "Charley?" 

"My legs! I can't move my legs!" She tried to fight the hysterical tone in her voice. "I don't know what happened." 

Throttle's strong arms wrapped around her torso and pulled her into his lap. "It's gonna be okay." He stroked her hair. "It's gonna be fine." 

Modo pulled off one of her boots and the sock under it. "Can you feel this?" He pinched her toe. 

"Ow, yes." 

"Okay, wiggle your toes. Come on, Charley-ma'am, try." 

"I am trying!" 

"Shush, it's gonna be okay." 

"It's not okay, Throttle! Oh god, what if I never walk again?" She burst into tears and couldn't stop them. Throttle hugged her tighter. 

"We need a doctor," Sparks said in a small voice. 

"What mouse doctor is gonna understand a human body?" Throttle's voice was gruff and worried. 

"I'm on it." Vinnie ran out of their suite. 

* * *

Tala threw open the door of her suite holding a very damp white towel around her body. Vinnie pushed his way inside. "Something'swrongwithCharley-girlshecan'twalkandneedsadoctorbutwedon'tknowifthedoctors  
canhelphersinceshe'shumanbutiftheycanhelpyoutheycanhelpherormaybeyourmedbayinyourship  
theroomwiththerobotarmsmaybeyoucanfindoutwhat'swrongbutshecan'tmakeherlegsmove  
andI'mprettysureit'ssomethingthoseInternalSecurityratsdidtoher." He took a deep breath and an eyeful of the towel just barely covering her breasts and stopping where her legs started. "You're naked!" 

"Your powers of observation are astounding. Now do you mind telling me again what's wrong?" She quickly put her free hand over his mouth. "Wait, take three or four deep breaths and shout it to me slowly through the bathroom door while I get dressed." 

He trailed after her through her bedroom and stared at the thin metal door she disappeared behind. "It's Charley-girl," he shouted obediently and felt stupid. But he remembered her crying face and spurred himself to continue. "She can't walk or make her legs move or wiggle her toes." 

The human woman opened the door dressed in a T-shirt large enough to fit Modo and a pair of blue jeans cutoff at mid-thigh. She briskly dried her blonde hair and the towel muffled her voice. "I'm a mercenary, not a medic. Why come to me?" 

"You're human. And maybe you know a doc here that can handle it or your medbay on your ship." He dug up the most hopeful expression he had and plastered it across his face. "Please, Tala. She's crying." 

She bit her bottom lip. "I don't know any medics here. Let's go see if MC can help. What did Internal Security do to her?" 

"Dunno." 

"Note to self," she said as she left her rooms with the mouse trailing after, "Vinnie's way of dealing with a crisis is thinking up something that requires his running to do it before getting all the facts." 

"Hey! It's true, but hey!" 

"Fine, but don't get so flustered you can't handle anything else." 

"What do you think your and Throttle's job's are, huh?" 

* * *

Sparks stayed out of the way. Throttle had finally stopped Charley's crying, but Modo looked like he was going to start any minute. _She must mean an awful lot to 'em. She was nice to me and she doesn't even know me._

The hall door jerked opened and slammed shut. "I got Tala!" Vinnie announced. 

"Like I can wave my hands and make everything better." The human woman knelt in front of Throttle and Charley. "What happened?" 

"My legs stopped working!" Charley took a deep breath and continued shakily. "I can feel things like pressure or Modo pinching me, but I can't make them move." 

Tala frowned and brushed her damp blonde hair off her forehead. She gently moved Charley's long chestnut hair off her neck and tugged down the collar of her shirt. "Famak! They put you on a jolt bed?" 

"Exhaust didn't name it." 

"A little metal knob pressing against your spine sending an electric current to disrupt your nervous system leaving a sore like carpet burn on your neck?" Charley made an affirmative noise. "That's a jolt bed. How long were you on?" 

"I'm not sure. Fifteen minutes, maybe." 

Throttle tried to hide his worry. "That sounds 'bout right. Is it . . .?" 

"Permanent?" Tala supplied bluntly. "No, she just needs to let her body rest till it sorts itself out. Go to bed, get some sleep, and you'll be fine in the morning. Or whenever you wake up." 

"Are you sure?" Modo insisted. 

She rolled her blue eyes and turned to Vinnie. "Is there anything wrong with the way I walk?" 

The white mouse blinked. "Not a thing." 

"There you have it. I think he's put in enough time to be considered an expert." 

Vinnie blushed sheepishly at her implications. 

"Your original diagnosis was correct, Dr. Davidson." Throttle stood up with her in his arms, staggering slightly. "Bed rest." 

Tala waited until they reached Charley's bedroom door. "Throttle, are you aware that your right leg is bleeding?" 

His tan-furred shoulders cringed as Charley stared at him with a concerned expression. "How long has that been hurting you?" She demanded as he kicked the door shut with his heel. But they could still hear the rise and fall of their voices. 

"They sound a lot like Roddie and Lance," Sparks observed. 

"Probably similar circumstances." Tala stood up, moved to the table, and helped herself to some of the food. 

"The first thing a girl wants to do when she becomes your girl is to start managin your life," Vinnie pointed out. 

"But the male--despite claims to the contrary--needs and/or wants to be managed." Tala smirked as she popped a potato chip into her mouth. 

"I don't need managin!" 

"See, claims to the contrary." 

Modo patted Sparks's shoulder reassuringly. "You'll understand when yer older." 

"I'm not sure I want to." 

Throttle came out of Charley's bedroom wearing a confounded expression. "I'll be back." 

"Be sure to get a note so Charley-girl'll know you found a doctor." Vinnie chuckled as the hall door slammed shut. "How long do you think I can keep it up before he gets really annoyed with me?" 

"Bout five minutes ago," Modo answered. "Leave him alone. You should be happy for 'em both." 

"Am I giving the impression that I'm not? I'm thrilled! Throttle's a lot better for her than McCyber and vice-versa with Carbine. Hey, you're not upset, are ya? I'm sure Tala could probably find a girl for ya." 

"I draw the line at playing Cupid." 

"That's not what your card says." 

"Don't bother, Tala-ma'am." Modo sighed. "I don't expect to find love again. Not after being so stupid with it the first time. And no girl's gonna want a half-rusted freak of a mouse." 

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Tala said quietly. "After all, personality is supposed to be the most important thing. And I hear that some women are suckers for the whole single fatherhood thing." 

The three mice stared at the human in confusion. "What are you talkin 'bout? I don't have any kids." 

"But Sparks looks just like you--even down to the same buck teeth!" 

Sparks felt his mouth go dry and his stomach clenched. He got up from the table and stared at his face in the decorative mirror. He turned back to the table and found his features and shocked expression on the face of the older grey mouse. "She's right." 

"It's a bad habit, sorry." 

"No, no, no, no." Vinnie shook his head. "No way. The only girl Modo has ever gotten that close to was Stella." 

"That's my mother's name." 

"And she died five years ago and Roddie took ya in." Modo stared strickenly at him. 

The hall door opened. "There you are," Roddie said relieved as she entered. "I was starting to get worried." 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Modo bellowed. 

The black mouse frowned. "Tell you what?" 

"He's Stella's son!" He pointed a shaky finger at Sparks. "He's my son!" 

Tala grabbed Vinnie's hand and pulled him to his feet. "We're outta here." 

"But babe it's just gettin good!" 

"I'll make it worth your while." She promised, dragging him into the hall and shutting the door behind them. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Promises

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Eleven: Promises**

"What did you mean by making it worth my while to leave?" Vinnie asked as Tala opened the door to her suite. 

"Actually, I'm not sure. I think it popped into my head because you wouldn't argue with it." 

"Oh. Do you . . . no, um. Look, can I try something? Something I think the club was leadin up to?" 

She looked alarmed. "What something?" 

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. "Just tell me if I go too far." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. 

He felt her relax slightly against his body. Her arms circled around his waist. _She tastes so sweet._ His tongue probed deeper into her mouth and she let him. He ended the kiss but didn't release her. "You okay?" 

"So far." 

"Good." He took a deep breath and walked backward until he found her couch. Tala was dragged along because he hadn't let her go. He sat down and slid his white arms down to her waist, not breaking their circle. He pulled her onto his lap. "Ever necked?" 

"No." She tried to hide her nervousness. 

"I'm not gonna hurt ya." He found the hollow behind her ear where her jaw and throat met and kissed it softly. She didn't flinch, so he gently bit her. 

She gasped and pulled back. "Are you supposed to bite?" 

"You didn't like it?" 

"Let me try it on you." She grinned and he grinned back. 

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" Modo continued. "I never would've left." 

Roddie's black tail lashed through the air in the Biker Mice's suite. "She didn't want you to stay out of guilt! She wanted you to love her!" 

"I did love her! Don't you dare think I haven't regretted everything I said and did every day of my life for eight friggen years! And you could've changed it if you had just told me." 

"I didn't know she was pregnant until after we got out here, till after we got hit. I couldn't tell anybody back on Mars anything." 

"You told him I was dead." 

Her black face winced. "Modo, we thought you were! We heard you guys had died in a crash en route to Plutark." 

Modo's eye blazed red. "Now you know we didn't and you still didn't say anything!" 

"I promised Stella I would take care of him!" 

"So that means I'm not supposed to know I have a son at all!" 

"Not if knowing means you're dragging him into the war! I love him too much to let him become another innocent bystander corpse!" 

Modo let out an inarticulate growl. Roddie clenched her fists and stood her ground. "You're not even willin to give me a chance to love him that much!" 

Sparks squeezed his eyes shut and felt the tears slide down the fur on his face. He blindly wrenched the door open and ran out into the hall. 

* * *

Throttle exited the elevator on the fifth floor and headed down the hall to their rooms. The doctor had cleaned the wound in his leg out good and patched it with duraskin, so it was in no danger of bleeding again. That oughtta make Charley happy. He felt a grin slide across his face and didn't try to hide it. _Charley-girl. Charley is my girl._

Something collided with him. He looked down at his waist. The boy looked up with a tear-streaked and miserable expression. "Sparks? What's wrong?" 

The kid glanced over his shoulder. "They're fightin over me. I . . . I gotta see Momma!" He tore away from the tan-furred mouse's compassionate grasp and ran down the hall. 

Throttle frowned and hurried the rest of the way to their suite. Modo's eye blazed red and his face was furious. He loomed over Roddie who stared up at him with an equally furious expression. "Isn't how you treated Stella proof of how inadequate your love is?" She yelled at him in a harsh voice. 

The fire went out of the large grey mouse and he slumped into a nearby chair. Tears welled up in his eye. "By the gods, ain't I ever gonna get a chance to fix that mistake?" 

Roddie whirled around and jumped to see Throttle standing behind her. "Where's Sparks?" 

"He left. Said something 'bout seein his momma." He stopped her from leaving. 

Modo stood up. "Please, Roddie, let me talk to him." 

"Go, Big Fella," Throttle answered. He waited until Modo shut the hall door before turning to his cousin. "Well, I see the eyes and the fur ain't the only things you inherited from Aunt Vev." 

Her face twisted. "By the void, that's exactly what she would've done!" She burst into tears. 

He wrapped his arms around her, but she pushed him away. She threw herself down on their couch and sobbed bitterly. _She always did prefer to cry alone._ He crossed the room and softly opened Charley's bedroom door. 

The human woman was fast asleep. _She must've been tired if she slept through all of that. _He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the way her shoulder-length hair covered the pillow until Roddie's sobs began to quiet. He softly shut the door and turned back to her. 

The black mouse sat up on the couch and wiped her cheeks with her hands as she sniffled. "I've been a mean, spiteful idiot." 

"I don't know 'bout mean or spiteful." Throttle sat down next to her and tucked her under his arm. "Why didn't you wanna tell us?" 

"Just like Mom 'I know what's best for everybody.' It's best for Sparks to stay here, best for Modo to stay a carefree bachelor, best for me to try to correct my mistakes through Sparks's life. Just like Mom." 

"Don't be so hard on yourself." 

"Lance tried to tell me I was wrong and I wouldn't listen to him. I always swore I wouldn't become her. When did it happen?" Her bitter voice broke. "I've been so selfish! So afraid I'd lose Sparks, I didn't even think of what Sparks and Modo were losing." 

"Okay, you're wrong. I'm not the one you have to admit that to." 

She sighed. "I know. Should I go after them?" 

"Give 'em some time to work stuff out. The news shocked 'em both." 

* * *

Modo paused outside the somber building that held so much bitterness for him. _Get a grip. The kid needs ya. Yer son needs ya._ He took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the Hall of Memories. 

Sparks sat with his back to the wall underneath Stella's plaque. He hugged his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them. His tear-stained face looked up as Modo neared. He jumped up and hurled himself at the larger mouse. His small fists pounded against the red, blue, and black chestplate as his face burrowed into the fur on Modo's stomach. "Why? Why did you leave her? She loved you! She died because you left her!" 

Modo wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy as he sat down on the stone floor. He drew him into his lap. "Is that what Roddie told ya?" 

"No." Pressing his face against Modo's chest muffled Sparks's voice. "I don't ask Roddie those questions. They make her sad. But other people talk. They said she died of a broken heart when she found out you had died. And I read her journals. She loved you. Why did you leave her?" 

"I was stupid." The kid stared up at him, shocked by an adult making that admission. "We had a big fight over my bikin and my bros. She wanted me to stop havin fun." 

"She didn't wantcha to get dead. Cause of me." 

Modo ran his flesh fingers through Sparks's thick grey hair. "She didn't tell me 'bout you. She didn't tell me she was worried 'bout me. And I thought she just wanted to run my life and split me from my bros. So I let my pride do the talkin and called it quits." 

"You didn't want Momma managin ya?" 

"Remember Vinnie's reaction? That was mine, only a lot worse. No wonder she hated me enough to leave Mars." 

"She didn't hate ya." Sparks swallowed hard. "She said she couldn't go back to ya after the fight and Mars wasn't safe to raise a kid. So I made her leave." 

"I would let the stinkfish have both my arms if it could change the past eight years. I've been spendin 'em hangin on for my bros and to pay the stinkfish back for everything." 

"It's not healthy to live just for revenge." 

Modo smiled weakly. "That's why I got my bros and Charley. And now I can add you to the list." 

"Really?" 

"Really." 

"So what happens now?" Sparks asked after a long sniffle. 

"Well, I guess Roddie'll let me come visit. I could catch a ride with Tala when she comes through Chicago. Or maybe Charley should just build a transport booth." 

Sparks turned his swollen red eyes away. "You wanna leave me here?" 

"You wanna come with me?" 

The kid nodded his head vigorously. "Sides, it's what Momma would want." He aimed a fearful expression at Modo. "Do you want me to come?" 

"I want what you want," he paused, "son." The small grey arms circled his neck and squeezed tightly. He hugged the boy tighter as he felt tears slide down his cheek again. 

"I wanna be with you, Dad." 

* * *

Tala had never felt her skin tingle this way before. It burned along her neck where the white mouse's lips caressed and his buckteeth grazed. He followed her collarbone up to her left shoulder. She took the bottom of his ear near the two studs in it between her teeth. She ran her hands against his chest. His fur was soft like velvet. The green bandoleers strapped across his chest stopped her progress. She found their center clasp and undid them, slowly sliding the top straps over his shoulders and dropping them behind his back. 

Vinnie paused as her hands began stroking his now bare chest. _She was ready? She must be ready._ He brought his hands up to her head and took hold of both sides. His mouth gently pressed against hers and his fingers twined into her short blonde hair. He pressed harder against her mouth, his heart beating faster. She raked her fingernails down his chest and abs, and worked her mouth and tongue in a way he didn't think was possible. 

His hands moved down to her shoulders and he gently pressed her down to lie on the couch. He kissed her continuously--never moving his lips off hers--and shifted with her. He carefully moved his body, so not to put his full weight on her. His fingers trailed down her front. She wasn't wearing a bra! He could feel her nipples through the T-shirt material. 

He resisted the urge to rip through the fabric. Instead, he moved his hands down until he found the end of the shirt. Then his fingers brushed against denim, and finally the bare skin of her taunt stomach. 

A wave of uncontrollable panic rolled over Tala's insides. She tried to yell, but Vinnie's mouth wouldn't budge. She pushed against his chest. She kicked her legs. They both fell off the couch. 

"What the?" Vinnie untangled himself from her limbs. 

"Damnit, Vinnie! I . . . no!" The vice squeezed her stomach and lungs. She doubled over, gasping for breath and shaking uncontrollably. 

He wrapped his arms around her. "Shit! I knew you weren't ready." He rocked her. "It's okay, Tala baby. It's okay." 

The vice finally loosened and she could breath again. She roughly pushed her way out of his embrace. They both climbed to their feet. "It's not okay! You're just like every other male in this universe--only interested in your own pleasure! Get out!" 

"You started undressin me, Doll-face!" His fist hit the side of his leg and he snorted angrily. "You're just a big . . . tease! No wonder you got . . . you probably asked for it!" 

She looked at him with a white and distorted expression. Her face was too twisted to read any single emotion. "If you think," she said in a voice laboring for control, "that tying a fourteen-year-old girl down to a bed so she can't fight back is _asking for it_, you have got one sick definition. Get out." 

Vinnie felt the blood drain from his head. He unclenched his fist. "Tala, I . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." 

"Get out." A solitary tear rolled down her right cheek. "Get out before I throw you out." 

"I know you don't believe me but I am sorry. I guess it's just easy to cross signals in this hard head of mine." He opened the door, stepped out into the hall, and shut it gently behind him. 

* * *

Roddie fidgeted on the couch in the Biker Mice's suite. "They've been gone for a while. Maybe we should go find them?" 

"If your dad just appeared after eight years, don't you think you'd have a lot to work through?" Throttle glanced at the timepiece. "Let's give 'em a little longer." 

"I forgot how annoying your always-right trait is." 

"I've made my share of mistakes." 

"I know mice who would love to have what you call mistakes as their track record!" 

"And I forgot how much you like to exaggerate." 

She grinned wryly. "It was hard carving a niche with you guys." 

"We weren't that bad." 

"Yes, you were! You macho mice are going to be a rotten example for Sparks." 

"Not on purpose." 

The hall door swung open. A dejected Vinnie headed straight for the door of the bedroom he shared with his bros without looking up. Roddie let out a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, it's you. What's wrong?" 

"Don't wanna talk 'bout it," was his mumbled reply before slamming the bedroom door shut. 

"We seem to be low on the yea-we-won vibes tonight," Throttle observed. 

"When the party end for you?" 

"When Charley collapsed. She's okay," he hastened to explain seeing her concerned expression. "She just needs to rest. And you and Modo didn't wake her up." 

"It wasn't by lack of trying. Do you think he'll forgive me?" 

"Modo's heart is as big as the rest of him. You know that." 

Roddie curled her knees up to her chest. "I never said anything like that before to anyone. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't." 

Throttle sighed but the hall door opened before he could comment. Sparks clung to Modo's back; his arms wrapped around his father's neck and his legs wrapped around Modo's waist. The kid's happy expression faded when he saw Roddie. 

The black mouse stood up shakily. "Modo, I . . .." Modo slid Sparks off his back. "I was wrong. I should've told you and Sparks the truth." She bowed her head. "I didn't mean what I said. I didn't mean to hurt you." 

"Roddie." Modo crossed the room and enveloped the smaller mouse. He hugged her close and stroked her long black hair. "S'alright. You were scared. Yellin at the saber squids all over again." 

She laughed through her tears. "At least you didn't try to eat me. And I was wrong." She pulled back and craned her neck to look up. "Stella didn't want you to stay out of guilt or trying to do the right thing, but she still would've told you. I'm sorry, Modo. I'm sorry." 

"Over and done with. Leave it down the highway." 

"I'm not mad either." Sparks wrapped one of his arms around Roddie and the other around Modo. "But I wanna go with Dad." 

"Of course, you do." One of her hands moved to rest on the back of Spark's head. "It's where you belong." 

"Can't you come too?" 

"You know I can't. My job is here. But once we get that stupid transport booth fixed, don't be surprised if I drop in for a surprise visit." 

Throttle got off the couch and put his hand on her shoulder. "I for one would be insulted if you didn't." 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Limburger's Surprise

  
  


**BIKER MICE FROM MARS  
WARS ARE WON BY THOSE WHO DARE  
Reunions  
Chapter Twelve: Limburger's Surprise**

Charley eased her eyes open with a sigh. She recognized her bedroom onboard the _Fury_ and found that she could easily move her legs. She turned her head to look at the other side of the room. 

Throttle was asleep in a chair facing the bed. His chin rested against his chest. She watched him, unwilling to climb out of bed if the noise would wake him. 

It didn't matter because his eyes blinked open and he raised his head. "You're awake." He got out of the chair and knelt next to the bed. "How do you feel?" 

"Like I'm going to die," she smiled seductively at his alarmed face, "if you don't kiss me." 

A new expression filled his features, relief mingled with desire. "Can't have that, can we?" 

She closed her eyes and swam again in the sensations of his kiss. _Fairy tales are true. Kisses wake everyone up._

Throttle sat down on the edge of the bed and took hold of her hand. "Seriously, how do you feel?" 

"Just fine. See." She kicked her legs under the sheets. "Did you spend all night in that chair?" 

"I wanted to be close in case you needed something." 

"It would've been more comfortable in bed with me." 

He looked chagrined. "I didn't want to wake you up. Must've been tired; I completely forgot you slept through Modo and Roddie's fight." 

"I remember hearing him yell. That's the last thing I do remember. What happened?" 

"They had a fight over Sparks. But it's all settled now. Chicago's gainin a new mouse, babe." 

"Sparks? He looks like Modo. Are they related?" 

"Yeah, father and son." 

"He never . . .." 

"He didn't know. Stella didn't tell anybody on Mars." 

Charley sat up. "Modo must be ecstatic. When is he going to tell Bola?" 

Throttle chuckled, "I don't think it's even occurred to him yet. He better do it long distance. Otherwise, he'll be too embarrassed to tell her." 

There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," they both called out at the same time and chuckled. 

Vinnie opened the door and Charley made a sound of concern. His eyes were bloodshot and the left one had a dark circle from lack of sleep tingeing the skin under his white fur. "Feelin better, Charley-girl?" 

"Yeah, what happened to you?" 

"Couldn't sleep. Look, Throttle, maybe you should go make sure we still have a ride home." 

"Why wouldn't we?" The tan-furred mouse asked quietly. 

"Me and my mouth strike again." Charley frowned. She had never heard Vinnie's voice so bitter before. "Maybe Modo was right 'bout Tala. Anyway, if I go near her, she'll probably blow my head off. And I don't wanna leave a mess on Roddie's ship." He opened the door and left them alone. 

Throttle blew out his breath. "I know he's got lousy luck with women, but I sure hope he hasn't stranded us here." 

"I can go talk to her. If she's still here." 

"Nah, I'll go." He brushed his lips across hers and stood up. "Put in a good word for Vincent if I can. I'm ready to go home." 

Charley really couldn't explain why her heart started fluttering when he called Chicago _home_. 

* * *

Throttle took a deep breath and knocked on Tala's door. _Maybe I shouldn't have been in such a hurry not to let Charley deal with this. Not that I'm scared of Tala. It's just depending on what Vinnie has done, seeing another male mouse might not be good for the other mouse._

The door eased open. She looked worse than Vinnie. Her eyes were bloodshot, swollen, and marked with that strange discoloration pale-skinned humans developed with no sleep. Her nose was red and the frown lines around her mouth were deeper. "If Exhaust is on another rampage, I'm sitting this one out." 

He gulped. "If this is a bad time?" 

"There's never any good times. Come in, I think I need another opinion." 

"If this is about what happened tween you and Vinnie, maybe you should talk to Charley or Roddie." He glanced around the living room of the suite. If they had a fight, it hadn't been a physical one. The only things out of place were Vinnie's green bandoleers lying on the couch and a pile of wadded-up tissues that had overflowed from the small trashcan. 

"I need a male opinion." 

What in the hell has Vinnie gotten me involved in? 

Tala turned away and took a deep breath. "What does it mean to call someone a _tease_?" 

Throttle's hand came up automatically to drop his field specs down his snout. He quickly switched and rubbed under his jaw instead. "You're kidding." 

"I am not kidding! I've been up all night trying to decide if I should forgive him or kill him! I finally concluded it depends on what he meant by calling me a tease." She stared at him expectantly. 

"You honestly don't know?" 

"Is something wrong with those ears of yours? I honestly don't know!" 

"A tease is someone who leads you on." 

"Leads you where? Into enemy territory." 

"Makes you think you're gonna have sex and then you don't." He sighed. "I don't know what happened but Vinnie often says things without thinking them through. He can't help it." 

She wasn't listening. "What would have given him the idea that I wanted to have sex?" 

He crossed over to the couch and picked up the bandoleers. "What were you doing?" 

"Kissing. I took those off." She waved a hand at the bandoleers. "Then he . . . and that was the end of that." 

"You started undressing him. Any guy would interpret that as permission to go to next base." 

"I took off his weapons and he thought I gave him permission to take off my shirt? Shit, that **is** what he thought!" She sank to the floor. 

"Tala, I'm sorry." 

"And he got mad because of what I said. And I got madder because of what he said. What do I do now?" 

"You could try talking to him before we leave," Throttle suggested. 

"Leave? Oh, you guys are ready to leave! You still have to deal with Limburger. Fine, meet me at my ship in an hour." 

Throttle found himself standing in the hall, holding the bandoleers in his hand and blinking at her door before he knew what had happened. He shrugged. "Guess we're leaving." 

* * *

"I'm trying real hard not to do the typical thing and offer a truckload of advice on how to deal with him." Roddie handed Modo another bag to tie down to his bike. 

Sparks sat on a extra fuel barrel in the hanger bay the _More Hot Stuff_ was parked in. "I appreciate it. You might make him change his mind." 

"Very funny. Go say good-bye to Lance." The boy sighed but complied. She waited until he was out of earshot. "Modo, Sparks is very smart. Stella used to say that he had her brains and your brawn." 

Modo finished tying the third bag to Li'l Hoss and faced the black-furred mouse. "A dangerous combination." 

"You got that right. Don't let him waste it. Make him study something. He's got so much potential." 

"Too much to become a biker bum like his old man, huh?" 

It hurt to have her words thrown back into her face at a guess. She swallowed the pain. "You're not a bum, but you're no rocket scientist either. Sparks could be." 

"Well, it's not like I can enroll him in school in Chicago." The large grey mouse shrugged. "I'll talk to Charley 'bout it. She'll come up with something." 

* * *

Vinnie gulped as Throttle shoved him up the _More Hot Stuff_'s ramp. "I can't believe you're scared of her," his tan bro said contemptuously. "Just go talk to her." 

"She's a heavily armed mercenary and I pissed her off. I'm not scared; it's self-preservation." 

"You don't have any self-preservation." 

"What if you're wrong 'bout her not wantin to kill me?" 

"I get your CD collection, right?" 

Tala walked out of the cockpit and froze. She was dressed in her usual faded black jeans and maroon blouse. Vinnie's mouth went dry at the sight of her distressed face. "Let me outta here," he muttered as he tried to go back down the ramp. 

Throttle blocked his path. "Don't be an idiot. Talk to her." He gave him another shove forward and retreated down the ramp. 

She swallowed hard. "If you don't want to . . . to talk." 

"No he's right. Throttle's always right. We need to talk." 

She led him into the cockpit, a small room with room for two passengers along with the pilot, and stared out the window. "I suppose I should apologize." 

"You? I'm the one who said . . .. I wouldn't be surprised if you want to shoot me for what I said. I would want to shoot me if I said that to me." 

"But you were right. I was being a tease." She turned to face him. "But I wasn't doing it on purpose. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I don't understand a lot--I don't understand **any** of this foreplay stuff. Now you know why." 

Vinnie frowned. "I still shouldn't have said that stuff. It was wrong." 

"You didn't know." 

"I know that not knowing doesn't make it better. I'm stupid but not that stupid." He looked at the floor and shuffled his feet. "Will you let me try to make it up to you? A date the next time you're on Earth? And I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." 

"You still want to date me? Even after knowing what you know 'bout me?" 

"It doesn't change how I feel." He looked up at her. 

She smiled wanly. "Dinner, dancing, and trashing some goons in Chicago in a couple of weeks?" 

"Lady's choice." 

"Then I guess it's a date." 

* * *

Everyone was crowded in the _More Hot Stuff_'s cargo hold. Roddie hugged Sparks, Modo, and Vinnie before reaching Charley. "I forgot to tell you earlier. Welcome to the family," she whispered into the human's ear. 

"Thanks, I think." 

The black-furred mouse pulled back with a giggle. "Take care of these macho mice. I'm pretty attached to them." 

Charley grinned. "So am I." 

She watched Roddie move to Throttle and hug him tightly. "Come back for another visit. We can guarantee a better stay now." 

The tan-furred mouse sighed. "I should tried to take him alive." 

"Exhaust asked for his fate. Here, we found these in Internal Security headquarters." She handed back his purple laser pistol and his nuke-knucks glove. She stood on her tiptoes and slipped his field specs back into place. She moved back and admired the effect. "Feel better?" 

"Yeah." He hugged her again. "Take care, little sis-cuz." 

"You too, big bro-cuz." 

Tala activated the transport booth. "Connected to Limburger's booth." 

"We shouldn't keep Fishface waiting." Charley took hold of Throttle's hand as he helped her onto his bike. 

"Let's rock . . .." 

"And ride!" 

Charley clung to Throttle's waist as they shot into the blue energy contained by the transport booth. The black and chrome bike skidded to a stop in the center of Karbunkle's metal-lined lab. 

The skinny humanoid with an abnormally large head scuttled out of the way of the barrage of laser bolts from the two bikes that joined them. 

Vinnie laughed wildly at the sight of the wrecked experiment and Fred's mangled limbs twitching with pleasure. "Let's show Karbunkle how much we missed him!" 

"Hack 'n slash number thirty-two!" Throttle cried. 

The missile launchers popped out beside the laser canons on the bikes. Throttle and Vinnie shifted their bikes, bring their rear wheels close to Modo's so all their backs were covered by each other. Missiles and laser bolts flew from the front of the bikes. 

* * *

The explosion from the floors below knocked Limburger out of his office chair. "What the?" He picked himself up, dusting off his purple business suit before sitting back at his desk. He hit the intercom on his desk. "Greasepit, could you please discover the source of that detonation? Greasepit?" 

An explosion ripped away the wall that held his office door. "Grease-gut's a little occupied," the tan-furred mouse announced cheerfully. 

"Overjoyed with what we got him on our trip," the human female sitting behind him on his bike added. 

"But we're more than happy to play with ya," Modo offered. 

They're alive. They're back. Am I surprised? Not in the least. Limburger jumped up out of his executive chair, screaming for his goons while running to the door of his secret exit. 

Vinnie chuckled as they watched Limburger's portly body disappear behind the wall. "He wants to play who-can-get-out-of-the-tower-before-it-crumbles." 

"Aren't we the current champions?" Charley asked. 

"What the heck, let's make it little more challenging. Each bike takes a different route," Throttle ordered. 

Sparks repositioned his arms around Modo's waist as they blasted their way through a wall. "So who was that?" 

"The local stinkfish. We got a routine worked out. He comes up with a plan to destroy Chicago or us; we stop him and destroy his tower. Then it's free time until he gets rebuilt and comes up with a new plan." Modo explained easily as they blasted through the skyscraper. 

"And Lance was worried I wouldn't find anything to do." Sparks grinned as he started to imagine ways he could help.   
  
**The End**


End file.
